Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe signs £87m deal with significant concession Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made a £87m Ineos decision which has seen the exclusive rights to his cycling team removed Comments Sport Kieran Horn and Matt Hardy www.cityam.com 15:50, 28 Apr 2026 View 2 Images Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has signed a bumper sponsorship deal in cycling with IT company Netcompany (Image: (Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)) Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos have reached an £87million agreement with Netcompany that will see the IT services company become co-title partner of the Grenadiers grand tour cycling team. The 73-year-old, who acquired a 25% stake in United back in December 2023, has agreed to give up the exclusive naming rights for the Ineos Cycling Team in a multi-million pound deal. Speaking on the agreement, he said: "I’m really pleased to welcome Netcompany to the cycling team, establishing a new long-term partnership that will help create the right conditions to deliver more success. "This collaboration brings additional resource, technology and capability across performance and operations to give the team the ability to compete consistently at the highest level of the sport." Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our United WhatsApp group by clicking HERE . You can also join our United Facebook page by clicking HERE and don't miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE. The Netcompany Ineos Cycling Team will make its debut at next week's Giro d'Italia, marking the first time the cycling outfit – formerly known as Team Sky – has taken on a third-party sponsor alongside Ratcliffe's petrochemicals business with the 73-year-old conceding exclusive naming rights. The team was acquired by Ratcliffe in 2019, four years prior to his financial investment into United. While cost-cutting measures were undertaken at Old Trafford , Ratcliffe and his team have chosen to target a return to the peak of cycling through outside investments, having enjoyed early wins in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Egan Bernal. F OLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester United Facebook page The significant financial boost – understood to be €100m (£87m) spread across five years – could propel the squad back up the rankings to recapture their former glory under the Team Sky banner. Ineos Grenadiers' director of racing, former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, says the partnership, which will incorporate Netcompany's artificial intelligence software Pulse AI into the team's operations, "gives us confidence in the systems and in the quality of the data and information we're working from in real time, so everyone is aligned and working off the same hymn sheet". Ineos get wheels turning on deal Pulse is described as a "real-time AI-driven digital platform" by Netcompany, whose chief executive Andre Rogaczewski commented: "This partnership supports our strategic ambition to accelerate growth across Europe by demonstrating the impact of cutting-edge technology and AI at the highest level of sport." View 2 Images Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos have signed a bumper sponsorship in an attempt to return to the top of cycling Netcompany, which already holds contracts with HMRC and Heathrow Airport, joins an impressive roster of major backers including Alpecin, Decathlon, Red Bull, Emirates and Lidl as principal sponsors or commercial partners of grand tour cycling outfits. The grand tour calendar kicks off in Bulgaria next week with the Giro d'Italia, before the Tour de France gets under way in Barcelona in July. The Vuelta a Espana brings the grand tour season to a close in August, departing from Monaco. Article continues below Thomas added: "From my side, it's about creating an environment where riders can focus fully on racing, while the team around them is connected and making the best possible decisions. If we get that balance right, it will make a real difference when it counts."
Curated by Taleb Kabbara · Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk