We have discussed the Craig Whyte narrative here in some detail since October last year when we first suggested he was preparing to liquidate Rangers and attempt a prepack recovery. I expect this to be put into motion today.
You can ignore any meetings Duff and Phelps hold with prospective buyers of the club, this is window dressing. Craig Whyte and his partner company, Ticketus, are the only people in position to make a viable offer for the business. They hold security on the stadium and Murray Park with Ticketus owning the first 26,000 season tickets (approx.) sold for the next three years. It would cost approximately £40m to release Ticketus security plus whatever is owned to Whyte. No one will offer to cover these costs.
Expect Duff and Phelps to conclude their meetings and report that they are in possession of a genuine offer from Whyte/Ticketus, or their proxy, to buy the assets of the company. The proxy may be required as pretty much everyone who has touched this club in recent years would not be considered a Fit and Proper person and would fail the requirement not to be involved with an insolvency within the last five years.
The offer for all assets will be for a nominal amount and will be conditional on all legal action against Whyte or his companies being dropped. Duff and Phelps will accept the offer.
Whyte cannot afford to allow large scale redundancies as he needs to be able to sell these players in the summer or play those he is unable to sell. With the players not agreeing to a short-term cut in pay, he has to make his move now, despite the enormous risks involved in going early.
Duff and Phelps could have made redundancies 24 days ago and ensured the club would be able to finish the season, or at least survive until the tax verdict, but retaining the football squad was an important part of Whyte’s forward plan – and Whyte’s notional offer will have been known to them from the beginning.
HM Revenue and Customs will take a bath for their £75m, Whyte will emerge with all property assets and the football club, although the club will carry the significant burden of selling tickets for Ticketus.
The SPL board will have to vote within the next week on whether or not to allow Rangers Newco to continue with the same league membership as Rangers FC. Whyte will have to take an enormous chance that his proxy will be presentable enough to allow them to turn a blind eye to the enormously inappropriate behaviour.
The vote could go either way but I expect Celtic will be the only club to object.
The issue is complicated by legacy issues. Neither the SPL nor the SFA have acted on the improper registration of players matter yet. If any of the current Rangers team had their current season contracts registered with the alleged improper procedures, games involving those players will have to be awarded a 3-0 defeat to Rangers.
The SPL will have to come up with a verdict on this matter within days or else revisit the matter in a few weeks, after deciding on what to do with Rangers Newco.
The SPL must also consider the issue of precedent, the consequences of enabling a club to disenfranchise a £75m creditor cannot be underestimated.
HMRC may also have an input here. They stand to lose most from this deal and may seek court intervention, arguing that liquidating the company prior to the FTT verdict is unnecessary and prejudicial to their interests.
Issue six of CQN Magazine, the Fit and Proper edition, is set to become a landmark collectors item. You can browse the magazine online here but you can buy your own hard copy by clicking on the link below. Read with 20-20 vision…..
You can support the online edition by making a discretionary donation here.
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Gordon Dalziel has just responed to a Superscoreboard question by opening up with…. “What baffles me is…”
This could be a long programme
Gordon Dee-ell ‘…what baffles me is…’ milk cartons? cup-a-soups? shoelaces? cutlery? air hand dryers? The list is quite possibly endless!
One other thing I meant to clarify in my post on Page 15…
HMRC did not agree to the appointment of Dubbs and Phelps, they simply did not object to the appointment. FACT.
They can if the suspect impropriety can pull the proverbial rug from under them.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
They did not object as they are appointed by the Court.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Dalziel “what baffles me is……..” how long you got furchrissakes!!
GiggsyBhoy on 8 March, 2012 at 18:36
Britney’s plumy accent does not an intellectual make – he is neither very bright or a good journalist.
He gets cut slack by Celtic fans because he did speak out on the sectarian nature of large parts of the rankers support. But don’t kid yourself on that he is anything else other than a gravy boating rent-a-gub
I am not so sure I buy the Whyte prepack and Newco. For one thing, it would be a company buying a football stadium. Okay. How does this entitle them to a position in any football division?
Nominal sum for the stadium? Again, dont buy it. The valuation of Ibrox is matter of statutory accounts and there is no way a creditor (HMRC) would simply watch an asset of value (whilst not perhaps the value in the accounts) be sold for washers. There are equally statutory options open to HMRC if this does happen.
The only bullet proof and legal way this happens is if the assets are sold for fair market value and in an arms length transaction. Who is there amongst the buyers that has this type of cash?
Just to repeat an old point, if Rangers re enter spl as a newco and are treated like the old co, same percentage of tv pot etc. Surely they will be treated as a phoenix and old co creditors will start chapping the door of the big hoose for their money? Cycle starts again?
So how many other huns should be declared as not fit and proper persons? Will they have enough left to form a board?
And isn’t it a good job that Murray would only sell to someone who had the huns interests at heart? Who knows what might have happened had he taken a poind off just anyone.
TootingTim on 8 March, 2012 at 18:25 said:
New Kevin McKenna piece in the Grauniad just went up on their site.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/08/death-rangers-scottish-football
It is very poor, like he phoned it in.
ppppppppppppp
From the back-seat of a motorbike after a very refreshing lunch!
Sunday 8th
In a few hours time I shall be twenty-seven grand years of age. Paradoxically it will be a happy enough birthday; perhaps that’s because I am free in spirit. I can offer no other reason.
I was at Mass today, and saw all the lads minus their beards, etc. An American priest said Mass and I went to Communion. One of the lads collapsed before Mass, but he’s all right now. Another was taken out to Musgrave military hospital. These are regular occurrences.
I am 60.8 kgs today, and have no medical complaints.
I received another note from my sister Bernie and her boyfriend. It does my heart good to hear from her. I got the Irish News today, which carried some adverts in support of the hunger-strike.
There is a stand-by doctor who examined me at the weekend, a young man whose name I did not know up until now. Little friendly Dr Ross has been the doctor. He was also the doctor during the last hunger-strike.
Dr Emerson is, they say, down with the ‘flu… Dr Ross, although friendly, is in my opinion also an examiner of people’s minds. Which reminds me, they haven’t asked me to see a psychiatrist yet. No doubt they will yet, but I won’t see him for I am mentally stable, probably more so than he.
I read some wild-life articles in various papers, which indeed brought back memories of the once-upon-a-time budding ornithologist! It was a bright pleasant afternoon today and it is a calm evening. It is surprising what even the confined eyes and ears can discover.
I am awaiting the lark, for spring is all but upon us. How I listened to that lark when I was in H-5, and watched a pair of chaffinches which arrived in February. Now lying on what indeed is my death bed, I still listen even to the black crows.
WoW! The Whyte Knight as a R@ngers Director gets found not to be a Fit and Proper person.
That’s some accolade!
In living memory I think the only comparable achievement is when Lenny got chucked out of Hawkwind for being too Hedonistic.
MBB You are Legend!
Hello hello Thomthetim’s brand new ipad(2) I assume.
MWD’s iPhone4
What baffles me is…
That’ll do for me
New theme
Gordon Dalziell’s WBMI – doors without push or pull written on them
Obviously NOT A F&P P.
Ard Macha
as always, thank you.
Duff & Phelps say they cannot sack players as this would reduce the resale value of RFC.
How on earth could sacking Elbows, Broadfoot, Neil Alexander, David Healy, Salim Kerkar, Papac, Bocanegra possibly affect the club`s sale value? None of these players are worth a penny in transfer fees. Drumming all of them out of the club would probably save £500,000 between now and the end of the season and not cost a penny.
These administrators are not playing with a straight bat.
What I don’t get is that administrators are justifying the lack of squad cuts by saying “if we sack players we lose assets which damages the chances of being able to sell the club” but in the same breath they’re saying they’re refusing to cut wages if players are demanding minimum fee release clauses.
It’s quite simple: you either cut wages and lose some value from the players if they sell in the summer, or you sack the player, lose the asset with no return and be open to future redundancy payments.
Dalziel still has L and R on the front of his shoes!
Hughie Green to bid for Rangers . And I mean that most sincerely folks. Consortium to include Chubby Brown ,Peter Wyngarde, Charlie Drake and Jeremy Thorpe.
Aldersyde ave. If Celtic are looking for a legal mind to replace Paul McBride they could do a lot worse than talking to Brian Murphy Sherrif in Ayr.H.H.
WBMI – modern cinemas
ard macha
was waiting for you bud! thanks again
the glorious balance sheet
Good point – there’s only McGregor, Davis, Naismith at Rangers who you could get good money for. There are a few like Lafferty who you could sell but their high wages would limit any price they’d fetch.
Caller on now: ‘…media has let this go on’
Dee-ell ‘A’m no in the medya but darrel sat and asked craig white a question and he answered him face tae face so he’s goat tae take him at face value and ah think the media dae a great joab because ah look at darrrel and ah think jeezo huv you no goat a social life? Ahm pure lik’ ‘at! in my unadulurated admirating fur the meeda, they’re pure gallus and ye’ve nae chance trying tae undermine the meeda!’
WBMI – yo sushi!
So the other clubs are wanting to change the rules of the SPL it takes either Celtic or rangers to vote with them.
The clubs will reach an agreement with Rangers. The deal is:-
The smaller clubs will get a bigger cut of the TV money, and in turn they will vote to let rangers back in to the SPL
roy croppie on 8 March, 2012 at 18:53 said:
Dalziel still has L and R on the front of his shoes!
DDD LLL still has velcro on his shoes :D
Hail hail
WBMI – hauf time draws wi’ nae drawin!
Gordon Dalziell’s WBMI – the meaning of the word “vacant”
Can we refuse to recognise therefore refuse to play Newco?
WBMI-English
WBMI- 3D glasses- I already see in 3D
WBMI: doors WITH push or pull on them.
WBMI – ‘…Ah just think’ NAW YE DON’T!
Hail Hail thomthetouchscreenthim.
Hello All
Am I missing a key point somewhere
If you are an spl chairman and you vote newco back in to spl.
A club that has walked away from all debt with minor punishment.
Any lender to all thse chairmen must say to themselves, these guys could do the same as rangers, go bust and reform and rejoin spl.
The banks have to say
How can we expose ourselves to lending to these guys, pull the credit now.
Whats the point in saving the tv contract if you then lose your banking facilities
This has to be a major consideration in any decision to vote newco back
what do you think
HH
Mike
WBMI That guy that stares at me when ahm shaving!