Ineos, the chemicals company founded and run by the British billionaire and Manchester United part-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has blamed high energy costs and “the deindustrialisation of Europe” for its alleged breach of a sponsorship agreement with New Zealand Rugby.

The All Blacks have launched legal proceedings against Ineos, accusing the company of failing to pay the first sponsorship instalment for 2025, which has three years remaining.

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Ineos branding appears on jerseys and other clothing worn by the New Zealand men’s and women’s senior sides – the All Blacks and the Black Ferns – as well as the country’s Māori team and sevens teams in a deal signed in 2022, which was due to continue until 2028.

NZR said on Tuesday the global chemical company had not sent the first instalment of this year’s payment, leaving it no choice but to take legal action.

Ineos said in a statement, however, that it remained in discussions with NZR and had looked to “adjust its sponsorship” as it tries to cut costs across the business.

The chemical company said trading for its European business had been hit by high energy costs, and what it called “extreme carbon taxes”, adding that much of the region’s chemicals industry was “struggling or shutting down” as a result.

Ineos – which also sponsors the British America’s Cup sailing team and the Ineos Grenadiers professional cycling team, as well as owning the European football teams Nice (France) and Lausanne‑Sport (Switzerland) – said it had been looking to “reach a sensible agreement with the All Blacks” and was “working towards a managed solution”.

NZR’s chief communications officer, Paul Stevens, said the governing body “is disappointed that Ineos has breached its sponsorship agreement”, adding: “Most recently, it failed to pay the first instalment of the 2025 sponsorship fee, confirming its decision to exit our six‑year agreement. Having learned of Ineos’s decision to walk away three years early, we have moved to protect the interests of New Zealand Rugby and the wider game. We have been left with no option but to launch legal proceedings to protect our commercial position.”

The sponsorship deal is believed to be worth about US$4.5m (£3.64m) per year, although Ineos valued its contribution to NZR as totalling $30m over recent years.

Stevens said that NZR “is actively pursuing new commercial opportunities and global interest in the All Blacks and other teams in black remains high”.

Ineos’ sponsorship of NZR was hailed as a “unique new six-year partnership” when it was announced in 2022.

Ratcliffe, whose net worth was valued at £23.5bn in the Sunday Times’ 2024 Rich List, making him Britain’s fourth-wealthiest person, upped his stake in Premier League team Manchester United in late 2024. When Ineos’s partnership with NZR was announced in 2022, he said the chemical company could “learn a lot” from the All Blacks, as they had “consistently shown the grit and determination needed to perform at the highest level of sport”.

Ineos, which owns Britain’s oldest oil refinery at Grangemouth in Scotland, has warned for some time that it was struggling with conditions in the energy sector. It blamed global pressures in the refining market for its decision last September to end its refinery operations this June, in a blow to Scotland’s industrial base and the site’s 500 employees.

The move was condemned at the time by the Unite union as “an act of industrial vandalism”.

• Associated Press contributed to this story