Leeds Utd: creditors were satisfied, not a Liquidator’s Charter

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I see Leeds United are being held up as a model for Rangers to liquidate and emerge as a new club.  Leeds United’s circumstances are highly unlikely to bear any relationship with those at Rangers unless Duff and Phelps can agree a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement.

Leeds United AFC Ltd entered administration in the control of KPMG Restructuring on 4 May 2007 and on the same day were sold to a new company Leeds United Football Club Ltd subject to a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) being agreed.  Both Leeds United AFC Ltd and Leeds United FC Ltd were controlled by Ken Bates.

A CVA requires 75% of creditors (by value) to vote to accept a reduced percentage of the money they are owed.  The company was forced to act as HMRC, who were owed in excess of £6m, had issued a winding up petition which was due to expire on 25 June 2007.

Before creditors voted on the CVA several other bidders came forward with offers for the club, however, the vote, on 1 June 2007, returned 75.02% of creditors accepting the CVA offer (75.20% after a recount).

Creditors can challenge a CVA within 28 days of the vote.  On the 28th day, 3 July 2007, HMRC challenged.  With the CVA subject to a challenge, KPMG asked for further offers for the company to be submitted by 9 July 2007.  Despite the extended offer period, the administrators still accepted the offer from Ken Bates Leeds United FC Ltd.

With a CVA agreed, subject to challenge, the Football League transferred Leeds United AFC’s league share to Leeds United FC Ltd under its “exceptional circumstances” provision.  The League imposed a 15 point penalty on the club for the 2007-08 season for failing to satisfy the outstanding legal challenge in time, necessitating the ‘exceptional circumstances’ rule.

HMRC withdrew their objection to the CVA the following month.  Leeds United subsequently appealed against their 15 point penalty citing a CVA had been agreed and that the league programme does not allow time for spurious challenges to be dealt with.  The Football League refused the appeal.

Believing Football League procedures were at fault, not their own behaviour, Leeds United served the League with a High Court writ to challenge the points deduction, however, both parties agreed to abide by the findings of an arbitration panel hearing.

The arbitration panel found against Leeds United citing the following two reasons:

A director of Leeds United FC signed an earlier agreement not to commence any proceedings against the League.

Leeds United waited 7 months before commencing the action, which brought unnecessary sporting consequences on other promotion chasing clubs, specifically Doncaster Rovers, who would no longer be in an automatic promotion spot if Leeds’ 15 points were restored.

In summary:

Leeds United AFC Ltd’s administrators achieved  the necessary 75% support for a CVA.

They withstood the challenge from HMRC, paid creditors and concluded the transfer of assets, including League share, to Leeds United FC Ltd, according to the terms of the CVA before winding up the old company. No loose ends were left.

This is not a Liquidator’s Charter.  Provisions in football only exist to transfer a League share from one company to another if creditors are satisfied, either by being paid in full or, as with Leeds United, with 75% agreeing to accept a diminished amount.

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  1. What a player & captain John Kennedy would have been at the heart of our defence now had he not been injured. Who was the last CB to come through the youth system & hold down a 1st team place, McManus, O’Dea? There hasn’t been many.

  2. Aw this talk aboot The Doors had put me in the mood for a fresh appraisal of their glittering catalogue- FULL BLAST before the wife and neighbours get back fae work…5 to 1…L.A. Woman is the best album they ever did though…

  3. Brogan Rogan, thanks.

     

     

    Bada Bing, I think liquidation is a raging certainty.

     

     

    celtic40me, surely, there was a 75.20% agreement, creditors received the cash and the sale took place. The HMRC challenge stalled the process but creditors were still paid.

     

     

    Rieperman, could be.

     

     

    Art of War, cheers.

  4. I don’t think mocking rangers live on tv would have a good effect on the club, it could also cause major problems for the players. Threats, Bombs, etc.

  5. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    So the sfa, spl & uefa entered a confidentiality agreement with the hun in recent discussion.

     

    Could this be used to suppress any evidence of wrongdoing revealed during the discussions ?

  6. Didn’t Think

     

     

    He really didn’t think of himself as racist

     

    As he voiced his thoughts in black and white

     

    Put them in that grey area of debate

     

    Men into monsters whom we want to fight

     

     

    He really didn’t think of the consequence

     

    As he wrote down his malicious thought

     

    Telling everyone in the world at large

     

    Look at me and what I have brought

     

     

    He really didn’t think of people’s feelings

     

    As he blundered his way around the blog

     

    Expounding his theories on any old thing

     

    Forgive him, the prejudicial old dog

  7. The Spirit of Arthur Lee on

    TB2

     

     

    Will there be an extra charge if it goes onto your voicemail?

     

     

    Love

  8. “The Leeds United Association Football Club Limited” set up and incorporated as a company on 2 October 1920 went into administation on 4 May 2007 and went into Liquidation on 15 February 2008.

     

     

    The company is still officially “in liquidation” and still exists as a legal entity. The company will not cease to exist until it is dissolved. As recently as 14 February 2012, the liquidators were still issuing reports to the creditors.

     

     

    The current company who own the name, league share, history etc is called “Leeds United Football Club Limited” and was incorporated on 1 May 2007 originally called “Leeds United 2007 Limited”. This is the company Ken Bates set up to get the assets.

     

     

    Mort

  9. jock steins celtic on

    if we take Liquidation as a given. Is there any way for HMRC (or other creditors) to pursue a Newco for money owed given the Newco will be just another version of Rangers ?

  10. paul 67 if the said comments about snp meeting in secret are true does this

     

    not suggest of a deal being done hence the red herring statements about btc?

     

    in a normal society it would be a forgone conclusion as to their fate but as you

     

    very well know things here are not very normal at all.

  11. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    wonkyradar

     

     

    If you haven´t seen the DVD Riders on the storm narrated by Johnny Depp I can heartily recommend it.

     

     

    And if anyone knows anyone that that managed to rip off the original let me know how.

     

     

    Couldn´t copy it for the life of me

     

     

    Hail Hail

  12. Sixteen roads to Golgotha on

    Kick-off times,Celtic games in April:

     

     

    07/04

     

    Kilmarnock

     

    Clydesdale Bank Premier League

     

    12:00

     

    A

     

     

    15/04

     

    Hearts

     

    Scottish Cup

     

    12:45

     

    N

     

     

    22/04

     

    Motherwell

     

    Clydesdale Bank Premier League

     

    14:00

     

    A

     

     

    29/04

     

    Rangers

     

    Clydesdale Bank Premier League

     

    12:45

     

    H

     

     

    Scandalous.Talk about taking supporters for granted?It’s about time that those Sky/ESPN mobs were taken to task over this disgrace.The issue of these ridiculous early kick-offs needs to be addressed.

     

     

    What bothers me most of all,is the pittance that these organisations pay Celtic FC,for game coverage.

     

     

    March was nearly as bad.

     

     

    They are not doing anybody any favours.

  13. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    Emdy any idea when the next C4 report will be aired.

     

    Also what happened to the Mark Daly BBC investigation into Murray ?

  14. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    16 roads,

     

    Agreed, a year without telly IMO would prove very interesting to identify if telly money is actually harming the game.

  15. Sixteen roads to Golgotha

     

     

    Shocking altogether. The TV deal the SPL has is for 60 games a season split between ESPN and Sky.

     

     

    We have been shown 18 times already and will be shown another 5 times before the end of the season.

     

     

    ***This doesn’t even take into account cup games***

     

     

    If the rest of the teams in the SPL really want to discuss the sharing of TV revenues, perhaps they should lobby Sky and ESPN to show more of their games.

     

     

    A fair allocation of money should follow a fair allocation of fixtures. No one team should be on TV anymore than 10 times a season.

     

     

    Mort

  16. Sixteen roads to Golgotha on

    12 noon kick-off for the Kille game? WTF is that all about? Why don’t they just go the full hog and put the start time back to 9 in the morning?

     

     

    ESPN of all people,not like they have lots of other important sporting events to show on their mediocre sports channel,is it?

     

     

    Reprobates they are.

  17. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Mort

     

     

    are you determined to lose friends ? :-((((((((((

     

     

    HAil Hail

  18. Awe_Naw

     

     

    You can always use Celtic TV. As an overseas bhoy you’ll get all the games live and then all money will be going to Celtic, not to fund Craig Burley and his ilk.

     

     

    Mort

  19. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Starry

     

     

    When your strange …. aye talking rubbish about Riders on the storm

     

     

    That´s the very one !!

     

     

    Hail Hail

  20. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    Neil R says:

     

    The proposition that a society or the world as a whole might be undermined by ‘miscegenation’ (which is not pejorative per se, and simply means the existence of mixed-race relationships) is one that I find – to phrase this as mildly as I can – misguided, and rather unpleasant. However, it is not racist; separation and discrimination are not the same thing.

     

     

    Agree wholeheartedly with what you said and the way you said it.

     

    Hope you won`t mind me referring you to apartheid ( literally a state of apartness ) which specifically prohibited inter racial intercourse ,never mind marriage,between whites and any other racial group.Not to mention the group areas act ie. Racial separation.

     

    That was the epitome of racism,separation and discrimination.

     

    Hitler`s and his thugs,as you know,forbade ” relations” between Jews and Aryans.

     

    This was based on eugenics, at the time,a well respected but now totally discredited theory based on racial superiority,

     

     

    Kojo`s ” animal ” reference is simply wrong. Hybrid vigour ,genetic strength through new gene pools, is a fact. Mongrels are generally healthier than pedigrees.

     

    Inbreeding ,as you know,creates physical health problems…..Viz the European Royal families.

     

    ;-)

  21. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Mort

     

     

    only when Celtic PLC put me in charge of the technical infrastructure … too unreliable

     

     

    Hail Hail

  22. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on 4 April, 2012 at 14:22 said:

     

     

    Haven’t seen it will watch it later when the weans are in bed..

     

     

    See if I can copy it too..

  23. Serenity on 4 April, 2012 at 13:59 said:

     

    >>><<<

     

    Kojo Mojo = Cujo.

     

    Rankers are stll gonnae DIE !

  24. Sixteen roads to Golgotha on

    Mort on 4 April, 2012 at 14:18 said:

     

     

    Mort – It’s our away supporters that I feel sorry for.Having to travel to places like Inverness & Aberdeen for these stupid early kick-offs.I can hardly drag myself out of my pit sometimes,just to go downstairs and watch them on the TV.

     

     

    Celtic are suffering the most – because we are successful,but Scottish football in general – they are making a monkey out of the game.

     

     

    Celtic should tell them to fak away aff,and work their measly £1.2million.

  25. Estadio on 4 April, 2012 at 13:45 said:

     

     

    Could somebody be getting in early on proposed hot food tax??

  26. Sixteen roads to Golgotha

     

     

    Agree completely. Our away fans bring in much needed revenue to most other SPL teams yet are treated with contempt.

     

     

    Mort

  27. I am seriously lookin’ forward tae Saturday’s gubbin’ ae Killie…..Champions for real we will be.

     

    Stick Big Georgios on…get him rampagin’…..they will $%|+= thersels!

     

    Celtic! Celtic! Celtic!

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