So you buy a business and then find that the entire structure and assets of company are subject to a police investigation, where it is alleged that the assets were criminal acquired. That’s a serious problem, but one which will take several years to manifest. Let’s call that Problem A.
Problem B is that you have also established that the business needs to raise cash. This is an acute problem which will manifest in a matter of months.
What’s the prognosis?
It could be 2018 before a verdict on Problem A, the criminal trial, is reached. If it’s not guilty, there are no consequences. If it’s guilty, the rightful owners of the criminally acquired assets can apply to the court to recover them. This doesn’t mean they will apply, but if they do, it’s highly likely that the court will make the award in favour of the rightful owners.
For our example, the rightful owners are creditors of a failed business, represented by a liquidator. It’s the liquidators job to get as much money for the creditors as possible, and in this instance, HMRC is the creditor with overwhelming influence.
There’s an added complexity. Although none of your directors are contaminated by the criminal investigation, there’s a concern that some of the accused are beneficiaries of shares in the company, or commercial contracts which the company has entered into. In short, the accused have left the stage, but they could still have a considerable financial interest in the success of the business, which may steel the resolve of the most influential creditor, HMRC. HMRC know such tactics well and would be reluctant to allow a convicted criminal to profit from their enterprises.
As far as Problem A is concerned, you have to allow the law to take its course and hope for a not guilty verdict. Should a guilty verdict transpire, you then have to hope to cut a deal with the liquidator (representing HMRC et al) to allow you to continue to retain title to the assets.
If the creditor was malleable, willing to come and go with you, this would be possible. Especially as the liquidator may have the opportunity of pursuing the professional indemnity (PI) insurance of some of the accused, who provided professional services relating to the transaction. Grab the PI money for the creditors and allow you, your shareholders, and the beneficiaries of your commercial contracts, to continue to benefit from ownership of the assets.
A great deal of uncertainty surrounds this, however. You would make it your business to get as close as possible to the liquidator. Make sure there’s no limit to the hospitality on offer, but ultimately, HMRC will decide how matters proceed. It may even be the case that PI money is pursued, and the assets are recovered and put on the market. There will, after all, be an eye-watering level of professional fees to cover.
Problem B is, as I said, more acute. Raising money for a business which is losing money and burning cash is difficult enough, but if there is a possibility the business has been built upon criminally acquired assets, the challenge is herculean.
The criminal trial may not conclude until 2018 (or later), and it could take a couple of years thereafter for the liquidator to petition the court for the assets and then dispose of them. In short, the assets could come back onto the market around 2020.
Problem B is for you to fund a trading deficit until 2018, then hibernate for a couple of years, and bid enough to buy the assets at auction in 2020.
In the short term all you can do is try to convince as many people as possible to become co-investors. Or put the money in yourself, of course (sorry, I know how you feel about that prospect). Then you could shower the liquidator with the kind of corporate hospitality illustrated in The Wolf of Wall St, and hope you’ve got enough credit with them to have them batting for you at the creditors’ meeting.
The prognosis? It’s not the fact that you are possibly trading with criminally acquired assets, or that your entire enterprise could be shut down with the drop of a sheriff’s gavel, that would worry me. There’s nothing you can do about that, so ignore it. The big worry is how raise the £25m to keep the lights on until you discover if you’re business’s founding fathers acted within the law.
Good luck with that.
This is an absolute minefield. No one is in control. Three years ago I suggested the best thing to do was to start from scratch at another location, this is the only way to proceed with certainty.
Share premises in Paisley, or Cowdenbeath or wherever will take you. Hope that you can carry some brand affinity (although clearly you’ll not be able to use any disputed IP, including brand names). Appoint reputable people to your board and get back to doing what you really want to do.
Behold to no one contaminated by the decades of misrule. Cut loose those who hold the onerous contracts. Allow the assets to come back onto the market in due course, knowing that by then you have all the customer goodwill you need to ensure there is no point in anyone bidding against you at auction.
The future will be nothing like the past, but at least you’ll have a future.
Celtic are the first UK club to react to the refugee crisis
“This is absolutely the right thing for us to do. Our club was formed by immigrants, many of whom had escaped the devastation of the great famine.” Tony Hamilton, Celtic FC Foundation CEO.
Proceeds from Sunday’s Jock Stein 30th Anniversary game will go to alleviating suffering of the refugees. The club will appoint a charity with expertise to ensure the assistance is productive.
I know we go on about the Foundation a lot, but it’s the most important part of our club, today and every day. Never let this change.
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Help needed bhoys,
I asked last night but the blog was quite quiet,
I am off to Vegas on Monday,anyone know where I can catch the game against the sheep
Guys can I just point out a couple of things re the Celtic Charity Foundation.
As HT says this is a legal entity which is completely separate from the PLC.
The PLC provide financial and other assistance such as resources and accommodation to the foundation, and work in collaberation with the foundation on many things.
Beyond that, the foundation is separately run and funded through various grants ( from the big lottery fund and other places ), sponsorships and donations.
The people that run the foundation events, courses, projects, partnerships and so on really work their socks off and are absolutely dedicated to their cause. It really is “more than just a job”.
In any given year the amout of funds donated to the foundation by supporters varies. When there is a big charity match, such as the Petrov one, the percentage of foundation income that comes from the fans is around 30% of income.
In the absence of such a match the percentage of income raised through the support drops to around 15%.
Giggsy
Too much sense son!
You’re absolutely correct Paul is on the committee as is St Matins Bhoy from these pages. One of the most honest and decent men any of us could ever hope to meet.
Dan 10.56
My thinking is influenced by a book by M Scott Peck called The Road Less Travelled which is the road inwards to self awareness through self discovery.
I was particulary intrigued by his theory that Original Sin was not concupiscence (wanting our rocks off) as portrayed in religion but was actually laziness.
Laziness in the sense that our development as a species would come through our non judgemental experience and that is why we should not taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because (and this is my own words) that was the way to the truth but as a species we were not old enough to handle the truth.
God wasn’t going to handle us the keys to the Porsche until we had mastered the Miini. As any responsible dad would.
But like any teenager we did not listen (disobedience) but the real sin was we were too lazy to put the alternative of learning by experience to test.
It was an interesting angle that I had not considered before and it made me think, even though that was hard work and it was easier to let others do it for me. Religion etc.
I think (it’s inescable) that we are here to do the hard work of thinking. Life is the classroom and we don’t graduate until we see Life and each other through God’s eyes.
Of course I only post this to encourage folk with their thinking. :)
GERRYFAETHEBRIG on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 10:56 PM
MacJay am not that well read but you seem to have a gripe with Celltic, if I were you and obviously am not if Celtic makes you unhappy chuck them, after all it’s only a game of football
=========================================================================
Thanks for that.
The only gripe I have is with those who harm Celtic or damage our reputation.
Whether they are inside the tent or outside.
I don’t really get the distinction between club/foundation etc…….at the end of the day the supporters are the club, in whatever handle given ?
Now, some have used the word leach and milked, if that is what is happening then change is required. We are some way away from such action and next season thousands of OF fans will be back.
This is question for all the Peter Lawell haters
Name me his replacement ?
Nobody will have an answer straight away so just send an email to
GFTBITHINKLAWELLIDOINGAGOODJOB.COM
Auldheid
The speed of light IS constant
The speed of dark is yet unknown but hovers over Celtic :)
Dermot used to to quote Einsteins theory of realtivity that space and time are the same thing when discussing Celtic matters.
He discovers this every time he shows up 500 miles late for his Celtic meetings.
usually on a golf course somewhere.
I’m sure the cheque will be written by the trustees of the celtic foundation. Who donated the money on that cheque is a wholly different question.
Meanwhile on FF…
Warburton constantly talks about adding value to our squad, well he certainly has, on a shoestring as well.
Here are my current realistic values on our first 11 , based on the championship , add another 1 million per player at least once promoted.
Foderingham- 2 million
Tavernier- 7.5 million
Wallace-3 million
Kiernon – 1.5 million
Wilson- 2 million
Halliday- 5.5 million
Zelalem- 12 million( sadly not ours!)
Holt -3 million
Mackay – 2.3 million
Waghorn-2.8 million
Oduwa- 14 million( sadly not ours yet!)
Before people saying im being optimistic remember van dike went for 13 million last week .
I don’t want anyone leaving but we now have a young squad worth a fortune.
Hamiltontim
what I did was cut and paste without any commentary.
Macjay
Where is the harm ?
Believe it or not so not very good players don’t want to come to us, that’s life, play the cards you are dealt
Giggsy
Sorry but while the foundation is headed up by Tony Hamilton as CEO, there are far more people involved.
The Foundation has a staff of around 9 or 10 with ancillary support being provided by Celtic PLC.
Those 9 or 10 do the job of 15 or more in my opinion.
Paul is a member of a supporters committee who help organise some of the events and provide ideas and suggestions for programmes and so on.
GERRYFAETHEBRIG on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:23 PM
Macjay
Where is the harm ?
=======================================================
I think that association with the I.R.A. is harmful.
So did big Jock.
Winning Captains
Are those figures draxhma ?????
No wonder the Greek monetary value is fcucked !
Gerryfaethebrig –
thanks for asking. Earlier this week I went out for a run and did I not just go and FALL! Badly cut hands, skint knees and shoulder and bruised big toe. I have a week’s golfing holiday in Portugal coming up (tuesday) and following my fall I felt that was in doubt. But next morning I realised things weren’t so bad and none of my ailments were that serious. I wanted to do Parkrun today on the same basis that if you fall off a bike, you get back on asap. Equally, with my holiday coming up I didn’t want to overdo it. So (at last) it was a fairly modest 22’30” this morning.
But thanks for asking ;-) !
Jobo
WC the only flaw with their cunning plan is they don’t own any of those players who are all on loan. HH
MacJay
Whit ?????
There is only one person on this planet that can put words in my mouth, where the heck did I mention the RA
GERRYFAETHEBRIG on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 11:28 PM
MacJay
Whit ?????
There is only one person on this planet that can put words in my mouth, where the heck did I mention the RA
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We seem to be talking at cross purposes.
You asked where is the harm.
I gave you an example.
Jobo
I only ask s you put myself to shame, even on holiday with the good lady I like to check your times, I was a bit dissapointed you didn’t have a wee jog when you were at Aberdour, but I suppose you might have been a bit tired after all that “golfing”
Brth
Cheers Jim, I think some posters have a pre determined opinion as soon as they see my name at the top of a post and without any real thought, assume I’m criticising the club for the sake of it.
Most people and posters who know me know that’s not the case. I’ll happily criticise or praise whenever I see fit.
Thanks brth for the greater insight.
I’ve only had dealings or knew and know some of the supporters committee. Had a few emails from Jane also.
HH
Margaret McGill
Down with that sort of thing. :)
Hamiltontim
As soon as I see a post from you I only see the T, as in for TROUBLEMAKER…….
Latchford.
Very well put.
Keep telling it .
Lawell. The man who earned the most from celtic in its whole history. More than larsson ffs
Average cfo.
1000-s of his kind could better his results.
Celtic are not even in Scotland top 300 companies.
He is rewarded as if he runs a billion revenue company.
Desmond doesn’t even consider us a vanity project. We are in his bottom drawer of the portfolio.
Look at Jim mccoll and fergusones investment. Compare. Contrast. Look first at his emotional investment.
I wish we were rid of the greedy parasites.
Keep it lit.
MacJay
I was talking about players coming to us, and some weren’t that interested, it was a total Celtic post, read back, as for the IRA back then and now I probably don’t know enough but considering both my grandfathers (not knowing each other back then) were hounded by the Black n Tans I have obviously a great respect for the Irish Republican Army, apologies if that doesn’t sit well with you but also in this day and age the British Army and everything they stand for doesn’t sit well with me, but I would prefer to keep my posts about Celtix because that’s what Cqn is bout
Tiocfaidh Ar La
Don’t see any names yet for replacing big Peter , c’mon all you haters surely you have a favourite to step in when Mr Lawell decides to move on to somewhere he is appreciated for the excellent job he does
Hamiltontim
Or even……..
As soon as I see a post from HamiTonTim I only see the T’s, as in for TROUBLEMAKER…….
HT you are the much valued barometer of the away support on cqn. And a good pal to many on here. HH.
Auldheid on 5th September 2015 11:21 pm
Thanks buddy, I will have look at the book through kindle, at an age now where I enjoy exploring spirituality and try to make more sense of this mad world.
Cheers
Dan
Hamiltontim
When you see fit tell him I said Hi.
Dear, deat!
“Lawell is a leach”
That is the worst so far…but not by much.
What horrible contributions are made on here now.
People can disagree, debate, argue, criticise etc.
But the personal, vitriolic and the, by design, thoroughly nasty postings should be totally absent from this site.
What a shame some are too intellectually challenged, or deliberately abusive in order to ‘enjoy’ some twisted gratification.
Would be best if some took some time out of here for the benefit of themselves and everybody else.
Happily I won’t be back.
drink to blame………not even sure if that last made any sense :-)
G64
Ok, I am obviously not as learned as your good self, please explain to me the difference between a Tory and a Fascist.
HH
HamiltonTim
Re my point about legacy.
Do the CST have a position they can put out if ol DD got hit by the proverbial bus?
Not one congratulating the driver :) but the direction we should go in?
It’s not meant to be critical just wondering if any consideration has been given to the issue.
Gerryfaethebrig on 5th September 2015 11:37 pm
Sorry,pal.
Having read back ,I still don`t understand.
Cheers.
Winning Captains
I was on a Spurs blog earlier ( I know the guy who writes it well) and they were talking about the young spurs kids at ili broke.
They want them returned and shipped out to a decent level of football. One poster said that Oduwa has been rotten anytime he has seen him and will soon fade when he gets bored.
Gerry
The ceo of
Tunnocks. Barrs. Apex hotels. Glasgow airport. Caledonia mcbrayne. Even the bloody newspapers.