There seems to be more confusion than clarity following this afternoon’s press conference at Ibrox where Duff and Phelps gave information on Rangers FC PLC (in administration).
Most important item first. The administrators confirmed that they will propose a Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA) in order to avoid the company being liquidated. You should ignore sounds of confidence on this matter. The administrators have to sound confident that they have a good deal for creditors, no point telling everyone, ‘We’ve made an offer, but ooph, don’t hold your breath!”
No indication was given that any creditors were on-side, never mind the 75% by value required. HMRC will have the casting vote in this campaign and are exceptionally unlikely to set a precedent for football clubs to opt-out of PAYE, NI and VAT.
One fascinating wee snippet is the missing £24m from Ticketus. Of course, if you believed Craig Whyte, the money went into the club. Alternatively, the money was paid to Whyte’s solicitors in advance of the club sale and went straight to Lloyds Banking Group. The remainder will be with one of Whyte’s companies and could well be paying salaries next week. Nothing too exceptional.
How Ticketus secured this loan is more intriguing, but there is so little information published this is not particularly surprising. Ticketus might have screwed up, but I reckon there is simply a detail not yet revealed to the administrators or public. A non-committal reply was given to a question on the floating charge over the company originally held by Lloyds, which will possibly reveal more about Ticketus when confirmed.
At some point, possibly next week, the CVA will be proposed. Once the administrator has a response to this they will be in a better position to suggest how likely the company is to be liquidated. Until then, it’s all cheer leading by the guys from London.
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Excellent article by Paul McConville
Seems there are a select few on here that have some tittle tattle on the (dis)honourable First Minister…
C’moan…geeza clue!!
Does it have anything to do with what is under his kilt?
Ithinkweshouldbetold CSC
So at the start of the press conference Paul Clark goes to great lengths to justify the joint administrators’ existence and independence. ‘Duff and Phelps are a Global Advisory’, ‘Duff and Phelps are the UK’s largest valuation firm’.
We know David Grier was with Whyte when he took over, Grier being described recently as a partner in Duff & Phelps. Grier’s business profile says he “Currently provides training in the UK for the Asset Based Finance Association and provides advice on turnaround, recovery and credit management.” On the face of it an appropriate guy to consult given Rangers circumstances. Although Maybe a questionable CV with previous positions as “Head of Client Relations at Royal Bank of Scotland” and “Operations Director at Bank of Scotland” Remind me, how are those companies now?!
Anyway, having big upped Duff & Phelps it is slipped into the mix that the joint administrators, Clark and Whitehouse, were actually part of Menzies Corporate Restructuring, MCR, only acquired by Duff & Phelps ‘late last year’. 31st October was the official date. Indeed Paul Clark is yet to change his LinkedIn profile from ‘owner at MCR’, although that profile looks little used.
On Duff & Phelps Website it is actually David Whitehouse who is given prominence as MD, with Clark part of the team, specialising in investment banking and ‘special situations’. I’ll come back to that.
On the old MCR website domain, now reflecting their status as Duff & Phelps, we can see that in fact Clark is based in London and Whitehouse in Manchester. No wonder they were hardly cohesive today!
I say all this because my gut feeling was that these guys look confident to a degree but appear to be losing the veneer very quickly in this ‘special situation’.
However back to the MCR / Duff & Phelps thing. Grier was also with MCR, has been since 2005. Why is he being described as a Partner in Duff & Phelps when Whyte took over when in fact MCR were not acquired until 31 October? No big deal, just wondering.
Why did the Administrators feel the need to mention MCR being acquired by Duff & Phelps at all, was this all because of the other company in the background called MCR (Merchant Corporate Recovery) that is owned by Whyte? If so, fair enough. But to do so means someone is rattling them.
Back to the profiles. Clark is an interesting guy. Founder of MCR, his profile says he is “regularly asked to investigate substantial frauds” and that “In early 2007 he became one of the few insolvency practitioners working as a Court appointed Administrator to re-open a business already closed down by its management prior to his involvement. He has also been one of only a small band of practitioners to hand back companies to management following a successful formal insolvency procedure.” His negotiation skills with creditors are championed.
Clark works alongside Grier in London. Duff & Phelps may be huge but there are only 8 partners in the London office. How independent of each other could these two possibly be?
Whitehouse seems to specialise in finding liquidity and finance solutions. Good luck with that at Ibrox! And when I say good luck what I actually mean is I hope this is the most miserable failure of an appointment of your career (but I wish you every success in the future).
Anyway, where am I going with this? Nowhere really, once I started looking I thought I might as well share what I found. Two guys with an impressive résumé but not obviously a team and they will have to get that sorted quick style to prevent more embarrassments like today.
The argument is very real that they are far too close to Grier to independently serve the creditors equally, but the fact that they do not do insolvency practice day in day out will serve Rangers well, if they can take the media glare and have the stomach to apply their skills in what they are used to doing – corporate recovery. Maybe the bravado of today was more about self confidence on past success than based on the reality of the debt mountain at mordor, but I’d have preferred an old timer insolvency practitioner who knows how to fill in liquidation paperwork than city career makers looking for feathers, armed with plenty of inside track from their previous paymaster.
Although their apparent bewilderment at the Ticketus money was funny to watch.
oh yes!!
For anyone who missed the Salmond statement and the ‘discussion’ on STV between McGlone/M.Kelly,there is a Youtube video of these within one of the posts on the R*ngers Tax Case site comments
(Scroll down to the entry @ 11:32pm 16/11/12
Comment posted by MDCCCLXXVIII….who I worked out is four decades younger than Kojo)
McGlone/M.Kelly on STV
The following is from this morning’s Sun . . .
Duff & Phelps are looking closely at the arrangement Craig Whyte had with Ticketus over a £24million loan which has not gone through the books at Rangers.
Clark said: “That is a matter we are looking at and trying to understand.
“It’s our understanding that the fund from Ticketus didn’t come through the company’s account. They went through a parent company account.
“We haven’t got visibility on that and it’s something we’re trying to get from the company’s former lawyers.”
This is explosive stuff.
As widely reported, Craig White flew to London earlier this week to speak with the administrators – Duff & Phelps. Yet we are being told by the administrators that they still don’t know where the 24m is. We have to presume that they did ask CW that question.
I repeat . . .
“We haven’t got visibility on that and it’s something we’re trying to get from the company’s former lawyers.”
Why hasn’t CW told them where the money is or, if it doesn’t now exist, what happened to it?
This is all looking more and more as if CW has stashed that money, or some of it, away for his own use AFTER he walks away from the mess. That is a very serious criminal offence and was the main reason he was banned from being a company director.
There is absolutely no possibility of Rangers coming out of administration. Liquidation is the only road open to them.
It is bad enough that CW inherited the big tax case, but to then refuse to hand over PAYE tax and VAT from the day he took over the club for a period of 9 months means he has blown any chance of avoiding liquidation, if there ever was any.
And going by the quotes above from the administrator, he will be very lucky indeed to escape a jail sentence.
Over to you FSA.
Blantyre Kev
Thanks for that.
My gut feeling about their Press Conference was – Why are they giving all these explanations before they have even been asked the questions?
http://rangerstaxcase.com/
explained more than i ever could, well done that man
@dontpatmadug thank you for posting the MM / MK interview from tonight.
Regaring the interviews – i made it until about 4 minutes and then i could feel myself about to throw the new (work) iPad across the room so I turned it off . Give me strength. How difficult is it to stay on point!? rfc are cheats, criminals and liars have systematically and wilfully defrauded the taxpayer, Scottish football, and ALL professional clubs in Scotland. rfc ARE a criminal enterprise. Celtic ( cruising along nicely and not in administration btw) FC will be completely fine w/o rfc. Will (not would) things be different? yes. Scottish football is not Celtic, rangers (ia), Aberdeen, hearts, hibs, DU, or any other single club. Scottish football is about all of the teams, across all the divisions, and the fans who support those teams.
HMRC will hammer the final nails. However, we must continue to state the facts that Celtic (nia) FC and all other teams will be fine w/o rfc. things will be different, but they will be better. For all clubs.
Paul67
Celtic to the core’s post needs to be reposted x 100 tomorrow. Succulent stuff!
The most intriguing snippet I heard today at that grandiose farce of a ‘statement’ today was a reporter asking if The Serious Organised Crime Agency was involved yet re. the shenanigans engulfing Mordor.
Watch this space!!
good bye , good bye
you’ve cheated & you’ve lied
good bye , good bye
fat Sally’s bound to cry
Neil Lennon’s Bhoy’s will win the league
then watch the ranjurs die…….
last line?
Goodbye,goodbye,goodbye,goodbye!!!
miki67
not bad
haha
HH BB
miki
it gets better/funnier the more you sing it.
goodbye pretty much does the trick.
HH BB
Hi guys
Love the fact they are in meltdown however just want to say to all of you, after reading that awful s***e from swallow swallow on the last thread, I would urge extreme caution to all of us in the next few weeks. It is obvious they are hurting but are now baying for blood. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than going there and ripping the piss out of them for the 90 mins and winning the league there, but for our own safety I think the next 2 games between us should either be home fans only or behind closed doors. As some1 who hates them and everything they stand for and would love nothing more than to see their total demise forever, despite what the snp says I would love no more of the go on home brigade, I don’t want any of our own put in harms way. We love our club for being our club, they “support” theirs just to hate us.
I know many of you will disagree because you feel it’s payback time and I more than agree, I just don’t want it to be at the expense of another 1 of us spending time in a&e.
God bless and hail hail
James!
Heres hoping eh?
not counting on it right enough.
rules are there to be broken( or changed to suit certain peepul) in this land.
HH BB
james79
i was thinking along those lines myself .
hope the polis are ready for it .
i wouldnt be surprised if a number of ticketless bears turned up to take their frustration/anger out on the folk whom (?) are throwing them a bone by buying tickets.(not a dig at the faithful that support our bhoys away btw, wish i was still able).
stay safe bhoys
i know you’ll make us proud ….. as always
HH BB
Branny I agree with you, I just hope the board and the fans think along the same way. They are so angry the only thing they know is to lash out, be it man woman or child. Manchester should prove this!!!! As much as it would be great to be there to see the orcs suffer, I no longer think its worth the risk to us.
God bless and hail hail
beddy byes james
take care my friend
sorry for delayed reply btw. think i pressed a wrong button somehow sent me back to an old thread( new one every couple hours these days – not complaining P67-) lol ,
new to the computer-laptop-a-me-bobs.
anyway this took me 20 minutes. up in a few hours (probably sleep through a couple new articles .lol)
sweet dreams folks
HH BB
Published on Friday 17 February 2012 00:00
A RANGERS fan found guilty of shouting sectarian abuse at a match last September was told yesterday he will have to wait to find out if he will be jailed.
Brian Gilmour, 21, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, was found guilty in December of shouting an anti-Pope slogan at a Dunfermline match, but yesterday Sheriff Craig McSherry was too ill to sentence him…
………Here’s hopin’ the legal system in oor great wee nation isnae showin’ a sense of loyalty , oot o’sympathy, for these subhumans:)
TAL
I posted this on the previous blog.
Paul is keeping us on our toes. So much happening so quickly:
Know Your Enemy
The drumbeat for a rescue of Rangers FC (in administration) is rising daily and resonating with journalists, politicians and fans alike. The pressure to provide approval for years of cheating and chicanery will rise to a crescendo when the Govan Cheats 2012 Newco apply for membership of the SPL. The vote to readmit them will be closely followed and scrutinised by clubs, fans and press.
Whether the vote is made by the current five man SPL Board, made up of Ralph Topping (SPL Chairman), Neil Doncaster (SPL Chief Executive), Eric Riley (Celtic FC), Stephen Thompson (Dundee United FC), Derek Weir (Motherwell FC) and Steven Brown (St Johnstone FC), or more likely by a committee comprised of the eleven surviving clubs is a matter of conjecture depending on rules interpretation. Personally I believe that all of the surviving clubs should be able to have a say and that an application for SPL membership should only be granted with unanimous approval of the clubs.
However, my thoroughly objective opinion, aye right, may not carry the day. Therefore we as a club and support must identify and target those clubs likely to vote with their cash and sash.
So, below, I have drawn up a list of clubs and their likely stance. Feel free to disagree.
CELTIC NO. In fact HELL NO.
Motherwell YES, I think their attitude was apparent from today’s comments.
Hearts Leaning NO, only because Vlad is a wee bit irrational and possibly wants a precedent set.
St Johnstone Yes, although I have no special knowledge of their feelings
Dundee United NO mainly because they have been robbed and will have a sense of injustice.
Aberdeen NO They have downsized with their budget issues and their fans will not tolerate a Yes vote
Kilmarnock Yes, mainly because they are in deepest darkest Ayrshire
St Mirren Yes, despite the fact that they would probably be a beneficiary of fans looking for a game
Inverness Yes, based on their manager’s support of his old employer
Hibernian NO Self preservation will be their main reason.
Dunfermline NO despite their idiotic chairman see Hibernian.
So we possibly have a 6-5 vote for NO, but it could easily swing 6-5 in their favour.
If they decide it’s by a majority and we lose, then we can only hope our board is prepared to play hardball and do whatever is necessary to preserve integrity in our game.
That should include threatening to resign from the SPL, refusing to handle away tickets for those clubs voting yes, encouraging supporters clubs to stay at home and watch Celtic TV, or Sky, fielding the development side in Scottish Cup games, applying to enter a development side in the SFL etc.
Our fans representatives should be in contact with other clubs associations to encourage them to put pressure on their club chairmen to reject their application and force Rangers FC (in administration) to start at the bottom of organized football. How the SFL treat them is out with our control, but we should be insisting on a three year ban from the SPL.
And an independent enquiry into how the SFA allowed this near apocalyptic collapse to occur.
And quickly before the shredders are purchased.
Know Your Enemy
‘GG
share
TAL
fair play to the polis that arrested him.
far too many turning a blind eye or flingin a deaf ear.
i know its their job but no enough have got the integrity and cajones to uphold the law.
HH BB
GG
how would you see the voting if it is up to the 5 man panel ?
if your predictions are correct, Doncaster has deciding vote….
i this a daft question?
HH BB
* how do you see voting ……
* is this a daft question?
no wonder no one replies… i type like a hun..
messed it up again
* how would you see voting GOING …….
sleep required
Brannyboy
I would see Doncaster’s casting vote coming down in favor of the team in administration.
Mainly because he is relatively new and wouldn’t want to be labelled as the man who changed the game in Scotland.
I also believe he would see it as preserving his job to vote to ignore cheating and skulduggery.
GG
While it is important to gauge where we stand, I am more focused on HMRC moving in quickly and going for the throat…I want liquidation and their history erased – not some kind of compromise worked out where we will have to rely on regionalised huns fighting our corner.
They have cheated , but will be protected by a system that sees”us” as the problem.
The politicians are starting to add their 2 cents worth – Christ , even one from Govan -who should be more concerned about 177 of her own constituents who lost their jobs at a company who were not delinquent in their tax payments.
Let us rid this game of the cheats and get steamed right in aboot them until they are no more. They will almost certainly appear elsewhere – their bigot supporters will attach themselves to another bandwagon of filth and hate – aye , but with no history.
We will see if these people can ressurect their club , as we did , but I fear they don’t have what we have inside.
It’s times like this I think of the Bunnet and a tear well’s up in my eye for Tommy Burns.
Let the huns die.
Whit the hell was I goin’ to say….Oh aye…St.Johnstone – a definite Aye – judging by Lomas’s (HB) comments earlier.
Hail Hail
TAL
Watch very carefully as to what is reported and what is actually said as the LL seek to save the Hun…..and of course their meal ticket.
TAL
This is beautiful.
Having always instinctively trusted our Board to look after the interests of our Club and supporters ,
without fear or favour,I find this fearless statement a complete vindication of my trust and complete
justification of my feelings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-1706713
Read the last sentence.
Macjay
Yer link wont open….was this the one?
http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory?item=2194
TAL
Teuchter
I agree. I want LIQUIDATION.
However, that will bring in the vultures in the wings to pick over the bones and form the Govan Cheaters 2012.
Then we must resist a parachute into the SPL for a minimum of 3 years.
I do not foresee HMRC flinching as it would create a high profile precedent which would encourage the wide boys and chancres in every segment of business.
‘GG HMRC CSC
Try this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-17067135
Teuchter ár lá says:
17 February, 2012 at 04:49
Thanks,pal.
Good to see the Beeb going with it.
Wider distribution.
A long boozy celebratory weekend beckons.
Loudly.
:-)
GG
If the Huns are able to get out of administration , then their history is alive.
Surely that couldn’t happen in Scotland?
Macjay…. Couple o’ beers this weekend….Cheers?
TAL
Macjay
I waited for a couple o’ years on Reid havin’ a go….oh well! hope there is more to come from our guardians …when the time is just right.
TAL
Teuchter ár lá says:
17 February, 2012 at 04:58
Cheers?
Hoping to persuade one of the drivers in my fam. to transport the
old bloke to that very establishment.
Motorised zimmer frame home.
Teuchter ár lá says:
17 February, 2012 at 05:05
You heard Reid`s response to a question about Rangers admin.
” I wouldn`t like to intrude on personal grief.”
Nearly wet myself.
They speak softly and carry a big stick.