The administrators for Elite have been given the go ahead to proceed with a £9.5m action against the club formed by Charles Green in 2012 over a breach of contract.
The big handed Yorkshireman was off the premises when Stewart Robertson and Dave King opened a three year deal with Hummel in spring 2018 ahead of the 2018/19 season. Hummel were represented in the UK by Elite.
That deal attracted the attention of Sports Direct who won a multi-million pound pay-out after their deal had been broken with their litigation holding up the release of the Hummel kit.
There were numerous subsequent problems with Hummel/Elite before the Danes pulled out two years into the deal. Very quickly in April 2020 Castore Sports appeared from nowhere to take up a new kit deal.
Complicating the issue Elite went into administration last year but the firm dealing with their business activities have been given the go ahead to reclaim £9.5m from the troubled club.
The Sun reports:
Elite were the exclusive brand partner to Danish sportswear firm Hummel and it instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh last November.
It wanted £9.5 million compensation from Rangers as its lawyers claimed the Gers breached a contract which allowed the firm to provide the Glasgow team to provide it with kits.
Lawyers for Elite say the breach occurred when Rangers signed a deal with Castore, a Manchester based brand which counts tennis ace Sir Andy Murray as one of its investors.
However, the company went into administration shortly after the case called in Scotland’s highest civil court.
On Thursday, during a short virtual hearing at the court, advocate David Thomson KC told Lord Braid that the case wasn’t being abandoned.
He said: “The pursuer entered into administration and in the period since then there have been a number of interlocutors have been pronounced to allow the administrator to consider its position.
“During that period of time the administrators have taken the opportunity to assess the oral opposition of the pursuer company and to take advice in relation to this claim and in short the pursuers through the administrators now wish to proceed with the action.”
Gavin MacColl KC for Rangers asked Lord Braid not to grant permission for the Castore sales figures to be released. He said the deals differed in nature and this meant the figures couldn’t be released.
Mr MacColl added: “The contracts are materially different. Castore have a substantially larger number of rights than the pursuer. They are able to sell a greater number of products.
“They operate in a different manner. They are Rangers’s full retail partner. Castore are a sports retailer and a sports manufacturer. They are not comparable business models.”
Lord Braid allowed Mr Thomson’s motion to be granted.
Like the Sports Direct case this one looks like being a lengthy saga, providing contingencies for a possible £9.5m pay out will be a big consideration for the Ibrox board as Micky Beale works on his unrestricted summer transfer budget.
How many shares at 25p is £9.5 million plus fees?
38 million
KARMA ANYONE