You may recall the story about German consumer products company Henkel and their errant ex-employee who was promising the world while stealing it from the coffers of the company. As a refresher, the former employee committed Henkel to a multi-year sponsor agreement with Brawn GP, now Mercedes GP, for $129million.
Upon discovering the error, Henkel proclaimed the contract null and void as the employee did not have the authority to commit the company to a deal with Brawn GP. Mercedes was keen to get their money and Henkel was keen to keep it.
It seems now that both sides have settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. Both sides released a statement of similar position:
“the differences between BrawnGP and Henkel with regard to a Formula 1
sponsoring have been resolved by mutual agreement. All potential claims will be dropped. As a consequence, all court proceedings will be withdrawn.”
At this point if Mercedes could squeeze $30 million out of them for duress, that would surely pay for former champion Michael Schumacher’s salary for 2010 no?
That Nick Fry! Getting more like Bernie Ecclestone every day. Do deals with suspect, dodgy or thinly-backed investors and then fleece a penalty for not coming through with the dosh.
