Mike Ashley's Frasers Group PLC (LSE:FRAS) has served an eviction notice to Coventry City from its home stadium after buying it last month.
The Championship football club said it had been presented with new commercial terms to use the stadium that are "less favourable to the football club" and had been given "without any dialogue or negotiations".
It said: "We were surprised to learn of this intention by Frasers Group, given that discussions with Coventry City prior to the completion of their purchase of the Arena led us to understand the existing terms would continue unchanged with Frasers Group as the new owners".
The football club said it was told it must now agree a new licence to play at its home stadium.
Frasers, which is majority owned by Ashley, who used to also own Newcastle United FC until October last year, bought the stadium last month from Wasps rugby club after it collapsed into administration, part of an acquisition spree in this year that has seen it buy Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, online fashion sites Missguided, I Saw It First and MySale and stakes in ASOS and Hugo Boss.
FTSE 250-listed Frasers, which is now led by Ashley's son-in-law-to-be Michael Murray as chief executive, claimed it has "throughout all its involvement with the stadium, been supportive of securing the long-term future of CCFC playing its games at the stadium. This position remains unchanged".
The company is due to announce financial results on Thursday.