INEOS: Everything you need to know about Sir Jim Ratcliffe's business

The phrase ‘INEOS’ has become very familiar to Manchester United fans over the past year with Sir Jim Ratcliffe being heavily linked with a takeover of the club.

Ratcliffe is set to take a 25% stake in Man Utd and expected to bring Jean-Claude Blanc in as his new chief executive officer, replacing the departed Richard Arnold. He is also the founder and chairman of INEOS, a company that has been involved in sponsoring a number of sporting events and teams around the world.

Here is the background on what INEOS does and what they have been involved in from a sporting perspective.

While now a big name in the sporting world, INEOS is firstly a chemical company. It’s a British company with its headquarters in London and the fourth largest chemical company in the world, meaning it is often competing with nation states.

The company was founded back in 1992 by Ratcliffe and John Hollywood to execute a management buyout of the chemical arm of British Petroleum. INEOS in its modern form started in 1998 in Antwerp, Belgium.

As stated by INEOS: “A global petrochemicals manufacturer, INEOS operates 194 sites across 29 countries, generates $65bn annually and employs over 26,000 people. Complementing our core business, INEOS is making an impact across a range of elite sports and becoming increasingly known to consumers, with the launch of the Grenadier (our uncompromising 4×4) and INEOS Hygienics. We make change happen.”

What is INEOS’ involvement in sport?

For fans of a handful of sports, INEOS – or at least its logo – will be familiar.

The INEOS website has a ‘sports’ tab which list six different sports they’re involved in; cycling, sailing, rugby, football, Formula 1 and ‘challenges’. The last refers to events or record-breaking attempts such as Eliud Kipchoge’s mission to complete a marathon in less than two hours.

INEOS have heavy involvement in the world of Formula 1 as a principal partner and third-equal owner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. They are involved in all levels of the team but, most tangibly, INEOS is written across the rear-wing of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s cars.

INEOS and Mercedes work extremely closely together / Bryn Lennon/GettyImages

Their involvement in football is currently limited to the ownership of Ligue 1 side OGC Nice and Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport. As well as that, they are a partner of Racing Club Abidjan who play in the top flight in the Ivory Coast.

It should be said Nice have regressed somewhat in the four years INEOS has owned the club. There seemed to be a lack of joined-up thinking when it came to who had power within the club, but this may have been a valuable learning experience and Ratcliffe will not have full control over Man Utd regardless.

In terms of cycling, INEOS are the funding behind the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team. They also fund INEOS Britannia which is a major player in the sailing world. As for rugby, INEOS are a performance partner to the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team which is one of the best in the world.

Ratcliffe promised to challenge PSG when he bought Nice / Jean Catuffe/GettyImages

The multi-ownership model has become a big topic in football over the last few years, with more and more annoyance coming from fan bases and other clubs about these networks. Perhaps the best example is the City Football Group, which boasts Manchester City as its flagship club. They also own 12 other sides including Girona, Palermo, New York City, Troyes and Melbourne City.

Were Man Utd to come under full control of INEOS, there would be issues with Nice and the Red Devils facing each other in European competition, which is far from unimaginable. It would likely be bad news for Nice as they would presumably become something of a feeder club for Man Utd.

There is a very contemporary example of why it could be a problem. The Premier League could soon pass a law that bans clubs with the same owners from loaning players to one another.

Newcastle are interested in a loan move for Al Hilal’s Ruben Neves, but with both clubs owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, that move would be blocked. This means that in a situation where Man Utd desperately needed a defender, they could not go and quickly loan one from Nice with minimal negotiation.