PARIS, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - The French government agreed Monday to pay businessman and ex-minister Bernard Tapie 285 million euros (450 million dollars), ending a 13-year furore over the sale of his Adidas sports group.

The finance ministry said it was dropping its appeal against a ruling that the state must reimburse Tapie following the collapse of the publicly-owned Credit Lyonnais bank, which had undervalued Adidas in the 1993-94 sale.

'We have estimated that it was in the financial interest of the state not to appeal,' a statement from the ministry said.

Tapie, a flamboyant former minister under Socialist President Francois Mitterand who in 2007 backed Nicolas Sarkozy, said he was 'delighted' by the decision.

In addition to his political career, 65-year old Tapie has been the owner of Olympique Marseille football club, spent time in jail and now reinvented himself as a chat-show host.

Tapie's lawyers later confirmed they would make public the net payment to their client, but suggested it would be reduced to 20-40 million euros once interest and tax debts had been paid.

The sum of 285 million euros was decided by a three-person tribunal on July 11, which only an appeal from the government could overturn.

Both the socialist opposition and centrist former presidential candidate Francois Bayou have attacked the decision, with the latter accusing Tapie of having 'protection at the highest level.'

Tapie claimed he was defrauded by the Credit Lyonnais bank, which handled the 1993 sale of Adidas, and won a case at a lower court in September 2005.

Credit Lyonnais has since been wound up and its liabilities taken over by the state-operated Realisation Consortium (CDR).

At the original 2005 hearing the court was told that after being appointed urban affairs minister in 1992 Tapie agreed with Credit Lyonnais to sell Adidas for the franc equivalent of some 400 million euros.

But it was alleged that the bank had secretly agreed with businessman Robert-Louis Dreyfus that he would take control of the company for a much higher price two years later. Credit Lyonnais itself made a large amount of money from the deal.

Tapie argued that he would have sold Adidas directly to Dreyfus had he known about his higher offer, and he accused Credit Lyonnais of breaching its obligation to client loyalty.