BERLIN (Reuters) -Teamviewer is in contact with Manchester United about amending its contract, the German software company said on Thursday, in response to activist investor Petrus Advisers calling its sponsorship deals “a sign of hubris and appalling judgment”.
Petrus, which has a stake of just below 3% in Teamviewer, had called for the company to end its sponsorship deals with soccer club Manchester United and Formula One. After the letter was published earlier on Thursday, Teamviewer shares gained up to 5%.
“As active investors we will not tolerate that you spend ca. 1.4x your net profit or over 70 million euros per year on sponsorship contracts with Manchester United and Mercedes Formula 1,” Petrus said. “You are not SAP, Oracle or Mercedes.”
TeamViewer had announced already in summer that it did not plan to prolong the Manchester United partnership beyond its initial term, said a company spokesperson. “In addition, the company has already communicated its desire to explore opportunities to amend the existing contract.”
The Teamviewer spokesperson did not mention the company’s plans regarding its Formula One sponsorship.
The agreement with Manchester United alone costs 45-55 million euros ($47-$57 million), according to sources. Teamviewer’s net profit was at 50 million euros last year.
($1 = 0.9633 euros)
(Reporting by Hakan Ersen, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)
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