INEOS & New Zealand Rugby - Warning, these colours will run
- Deception Detection Lab
- Feb 13
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 15
February 13, 2025
How to best manage a merger or partnership?
A joint recognition of the parties involved, acknowledgement of each other’s history, a sharing of goals and a clear strategic direction going forward are all good starting points.
We look at a relationship that has recently gone sour and question if there was ever a solid foundation. Had DDL been advising New Zealand Rugby (NZR), we would have been mindful of the below…
In a statement on Tuesday, NZR announced that it was left with no option but to launch legal proceedings following INEOS' decision to walk away three years early from a sponsorship agreement which was scheduled to run from 2022-2027.
In 2021, INEOS' Director of Sport, Sir Dave Brailsford, hailed the partnership with NZR.
‘The integration of the INEOS brand on this iconic kit symbolises our partnership to share best practice and collaborate on performance innovation’, he said.
This statement offers an insight to the mindset of INEOS. The use of the word ‘integration’ almost implies a business merger, rather than a partnership. The focus is on the INEOS brand being integrated on an ‘iconic kit’ potentially both displaying a lesser recognition of the team that will bear their name and its associated status.
‘I am looking forward to integrating the players and team at New Zealand Rugby into INEOS to support their ambitious performance goals and apply the knowledge and expertise found across all of our teams.’
Brailsford repeats the word ‘integration’ as if it were a potential merger which sounds as if NZR is to simply become a piece of their conglomerate. Such a mindset does not bode well for a harmonious and symbiotic partnership.
We note that last month, INEOS parted ways with four-time Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainslie, having backed the Britannia America's Cup sailing team since 2018.
INEOS said in a statement it could ‘not find agreement’ with Ainslie on ‘terms to move forward’ after last year's event in Barcelona. The decision prompted a furious response from the Ainslie team saying they were ‘astounded’ by the decision.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe stated ‘I am enormously proud of what we achieved in Barcelona in developing a British boat that was truly competitive for the first time in decades. It set new benchmarks for British sailing, including winning the Louis Vuitton Cup for the first time, and taking races off the defender in the finals for the first time in 90 years’.
Note the failure to mention Ainslie by name.
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