Whyte and D&P prepared for hostile HMRC
Much of the response from Duff and Phelps to last night’s revelations by Mark Daly on the BBC website centred around their fees. BBC revealed that partner, David Grier, emailed Craig Whyte to say, “We propose to cap our fees in respect of an (sic) CVA or Administration to £500k, however, we request the ability to discuss with you an additional payment in respect of our total time costs, in so far as this does not impact on your position.”
Contracting to cap fees at £500k when you subsequently bill creditors £3.5m for your own time plus £2m legal costs would embarrass many of us, though not everyone. Duff and Phelps added a caveat that they could discuss additional payment as long as it did not impact on Craig Whyte’s position, which they perhaps did.
The more interesting part of the exchange between Whyte and Greir is their preparation for “HMRC being hostile”.
Craig Whyte:
“I’d like to speak to David [Whitehouse] and Paul [Clark] to make sure that they’re comfortable with the fact that we might end up with HMRC being hostile (I suspect this will end up being the case so you should go into it with your eyes open)”
David Grier:
“Agreed.”
It is fascinating to wonder how comfortable Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were with Craig Whyte’s plans in the event HMRC were hostile. HMRC are Rangers largest creditors. Administrators run the company in the interests of the creditors, not the shareholders.
Three days after this email exchange Rangers went to court to insist Duff and Phelps were appointed administrators instead of an appointment by HMRC.
Last week Duff and Phelps denied they have a conflict of interest concerning this administration. They are currently negotiating a CVA with HMRC and other creditors.
E-lites are opening a concession on the first floor of Buchanan Galleries tomorrow. They are giving away a free copy of CQN Magazine to customers throughout June, while stocks last.
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