Sports Direct share price: Retailer withdraws legal case against Rangers

Sports Direct (LON:SPD) has withdrawn its legal case against Rangers football club following repeated failures to keep the details of its contract with the club from the public domain.

Sports Direct’s founder and deputy executive chairman, Mike Ashley, last year launched legal action against Rangers, accusing chairman Dave King of breaching an injunction in a July interview, during which he confirmed he was holding talks with Sports Direct over contracts signed by the previous board of the football team.
In agreeing to Sports Direct’s request to abandon the case, the high court judge Mr Justice Peter Smith said he was keen to curtail “this ridiculous piece of litigation”. He also allowed Rangers to discuss parts of the confidential agreements that are already in the public domain or in order to correct inaccurate statements made by Sports Direct.

“From start to finish, [the request to imprison King] was designed to intimidate rather than seek a proper sanction for an alleged breach,” Smith said. “It was a muscular tactic using the threat of committal that the court should deplore,” he added.
Sports Direct’s share price has been moving in line with the broader UK stock market today. As of 13:25 GMT, the sporting goods retailer was trading 0.55 percent higher at 399.40p, while the FTSE 100 was 0.46 percent up at 5,863.71 points.
As of 13:50 GMT, Thursday, 04 February, Sports Direct International Plc share price is 398.10p.