SPORTS Direct has threatened to vote against a recovery plan at rival Blacks Leisure now it has acquired 28 per cent of the outdoor retailer’s shares.

The sports retailer, controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, has been locked in a dispute with Ernst and Young, the administrator of collapsed bank Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander, over the ownership of the Blacks stake and an 11 per cent holding in JD Sports Fashion since October 2008.

Sports Direct suffered a £53.1m write-down on the assets held in Blacks and JD Sports last July after Kaupthing, its Icelandic banking partner that had partly funded the holdings, went into administration.

Last night, the firm said its SportsDirect.com retail business had acquired the rights for the shareholdings.

This is ahead of Blacks’ investor meeting tomorrow, where it intends to vote against the resolutions proposed.

Retailer Blacks has said the £20m fundraising plans, which are due to be voted on at the shareholder meeting, mark the crucial growth phase of its recovery, after a deal with landlords in November helped secure its future.

The group, which operates its own-brand shops as well as the Millets chain, is planning up to 35 new stores and the refurbishment of existing sites.

Sports Direct, which operates the Sports World chain, did not give a reason for its plan to scupper the Blacks fundraising.

However, it did say the decision to vote against the plans was subject to review and final determination by the board of directors before the meeting.

Analysts said the deal to buy the shares would have cost Sports Direct about £30m, which it may or may not get back.

The ownership dispute itself is currently in the hands of the courts, and is thought to be set to continue regardless of the acquisition.

Blacks needs 75 per cent of the shareholder vote to back its fundraising plans at this week’s meeting.

The firm would not comment on the Sports Direct statement.

Kate Heseltine, of investment banker Seymour Pierce, said she continued to view Blacks as being in a substantially stronger position following its deal with landlords.

“Although this may prove detrimental to Blacks’ restructuring plans, there is presently insufficient information, or indeed certainty over the outcome of such ownership disputes, to alter our view on Blacks,” she said.

Sportswear firms in the UK have a habit of owning strategic stakes in their rivals, with Sports Direct one of the industry’s most prolific share owners.