Dutch Eredivisie football club Ajax has signed a short-term extension to its main sponsor deal with financial services firm Aegon.
Under the terms, Aegon will retain Ajax’s front-of-shirt sponsorship for an additional six months until December 31, giving the Amsterdam-based Eredivisie champion more time to find a replacement lead partner.
The extension is estimated to be worth €3m ($4.1m) and Aegon will remain as a ‘regular sponsor’ until the end of June 2017, with the option to renew for a further 12 months.
In November 2012, Ajax announced it was on the lookout for a new shirt sponsor after Aegon said it would not extend its contract beyond the end of the 2013-14 season. Aegon has elected to downgrade its involvement from the 2014-15 campaign.
Marco Keim, chief executive of Aegon Netherlands, said: “We’ve been connected to Ajax since 2008 as the head sponsor, and have achieved good results. It’s valuable to us that a good successor is found. That’s why we are committing to this extra six months as head sponsor.”