Leading media and entertainment law firm, Harbottle & Lewis LLP has just advised Samsung Electronics Company in the negotiation and completion of its record-breaking shirt sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC.

The 5-year deal is the most lucrative sponsorship deal ever signed by an English football club and was announced at a press conference on Monday 25 April 2005 attended by Peter Kenyon and Jose Mourinho of Chelsea FC. News reports have indicated that the deal with Samsung is worth in the region of £50 million for Chelsea FC which would eclipse Manchester United’s £9 million a year sponsorship deal with Vodafone. Harbottle & Lewis was also involved in that transaction when it advised Vodafone.

Bob Mitchell (Partner and head of the Sports Group) and Dalton Odendaal (Senior Associate) worked on the negotiation of the sponsorship arrangements for Samsung. The deal was completed within a very short timeframe and was secured in the face of competition, widely reported as being from Nokia and Siemens. The deal was extremely challenging from a legal perspective as not only did it comprise the shirt sponsorship of Chelsea FC but it also entailed a licence for Samsung to exploit Chelsea-branded mobile content on a multi-national basis.

For further information, please contact Robert Mitchell (on +44 (0) 20 7667 5157) or Dalton Odendaal (on +44 (0) 20 7667 5132) or e-mail robert.mitchell@harbottle.com