by Guest Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:18 am
Liquidation option looms
By MICHAEL GRANT and DARRELL KING
THE American frontrunners in the race to buy Rangers are prepared to pay £25 million for control of the club – but their preferred option is to put the Ibrox side into liquidation.
The bid from Chicago-based Club 9 Sports, who have been linked to Rangers director Andrew Ellis and by association shamed owner Craig Whyte, is one of three offers which, if successful, may result in the new owners taking the highly unpopular option of winding up the club and reforming it as a new company (Newco).
The only offer on the table which is conditional on Rangers emerging from administration and paying off debts via a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is the one from the Blue Knights, headed by former Ibrox director Paul Murray.
The conditional American bid is more than double the £10m bid tabled by the Blue Knights and five times as much as Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy, whose offer of around £5m was rejected by administrators Duff & Phelps yesterday.
But Club 9 Sports would have to address the £27m debt owed to Ticketus, who would NOT be creditors under the terms of the Blue Knights’ bid.
I have advised a few people – I am not involved with any groups
In effect, the Blue Knights would offer £10m for a creditors pot of around £23m; Club 9 Sports would offer £25m on creditors debts of £50m, but liquidation would then be their preferred option.
Until now little has been known about the substance of the Club 9 Sports bid or the company’s intentions if it was successful in taking ownership from Craig Whyte.
But the company has made it known that liquidating Rangers is in its plans, and it is understood two unidentified consortia – one UK- based, the other in Singapore – are also open to the Newco route rather than trying to do a deal with creditors via a CVA, although they are both slowly falling out of the picture and are unlikely to succeed. Th wanking rat is officially on standby.
It is believed Club 9 feels that liquidation would remove the risk of currently unknown debts emerging in the future, and would take away the uncertainty of not being able to agree a CVA with creditors.
But taking Rangers into liquidation would be deeply popular with fans and would have fantastic footballing consequences.
A new club has to wait three years before it is eligible to play lucrative Champions or Europa League ties. It would also have to be voted into the Scottish Premier League, with likely financial or points penalties, or else apply to join the Scottish Football League in Division Three, and the registration of all its current players would pass to the SPL rather than being held by Rangers.
The US firm emerged as frontrunner as Mr Kennedy was told by Duff & Phelps that his offer was not good enough.
With current owner Whyte refusing to deal with Paul Murray’s Blue Knights bid, Club 9 is in a strong position.
Mr Ellis was asked today if he is involved with Club 9 and said: “I have advised a few people who have asked me questions regarding the situation at Rangers. But I am not involved with any groups.”
Club 9 Sports, formed in 2009, seeks to revive struggling businesses “through cost-cutting and aggressive sales and marketing”. Its most recent purchase was Quad City Mallards, a minor league professional ice hockey club in Illinois.
A spokesman for Duff & Phelps today declined to comment about any individual bid for Rangers.
@STVkeith: Ally McCoist admits he understands where new owners/administrators are coming from if they choose to liquidate Rangers.
*insert wanking rat gif here*
not even his real twitter name either
