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Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley wins High Court battle over £15m 'deal' made in London pub

Court victor: Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley: John Stillwell/PA
Court victor: Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley: John Stillwell/PA

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has won a High Court battle with investment banker Jeffrey Blue over a £15 million deal allegedly made in a London pub.

Mr Blue told judge Mr Justice Leggatt that the Newcastle United owner had promised to pay him the huge sum if he used his expertise to double the sportswear empire’s share price to £8 million a share.

He said Mr Ashley paid only £1 million and he wanted £14 million damages.

The judge heard during a trial earlier this month that the dispute centred on a conversation in the Horse and Groom pub four years ago.

Ruling in Mr Ashley's favour, he said no-one would have thought what was said in the pub was "serious".

Sportswear tycoon: Mike Ashley (Victoria Jones/PA)
Sportswear tycoon: Mike Ashley (Victoria Jones/PA)

Mr Ashley was not in court to hear the judge deliver his ruling, but his lawyers said he had won a "comprehensive" victory.

He said he had met Mr Blue and three other finance specialists at the pub and "consumed a lot of alcohol".

"I can't remember the details of the conversations that we had in the pub as it was a heavy night of drinking," Mr Ashley had said.

"I do remember that we had a lot of drinks and a lot of banter.

Investment banker Jeffrey Blue outside the High Court (PA)
Investment banker Jeffrey Blue outside the High Court (PA)

"If I did say to Mr Blue that I would pay him £15 million if he could increase (Sports Direct's) share price to £8, it would be obvious to everyone, including Mr Blue, that I wasn't being serious."

He said he paid Mr Blue, who he called "Jeffers", £1 million for "other deals" unrelated to the night in the Horse and Groom.

Mr Blue told the judge that Mr Ashley was a "serious businessman".

He said the work ethic at Sports Direct was "like nothing else I have ever seen".

But he said Mr Ashley sometimes did business "in unorthodox ways and in unusual venues".

He told how Mr Ashley once vomited into a fireplace after a senior management meeting that was "effectively a pub lock-in" and said the businessman would take naps under tables at "boring" meetings.

Mr Justice Leggatt told lawyers, at the end of the trial, that the case had been "a lot more interesting than some".

In a statement issued after the ruling, Mr Ashley said: "The only reason the Sports Direct share price exceeded £8, and will hopefully do so again, is because of the sterling efforts of all the people who work at Sports Direct."