Rangers Football Club

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UPDATE on latest situation at club from Duff and Phelps More... DUFF AND PHELPS, the administrators of Rangers Football Club, issued the following statement today. David Whitehouse, joint administrator, said: "We have continued intensive discussions with interested parties over the weekend. "The Blue Knights and Bill Miller have asked for a further short period of time to finalise their plans for the club prior to any announcement on a preferred bidder. "At this stage neither party has currently made an offer that is capable of acceptance by the administrators and we can only move forward when we have an offer on the table that can be concluded following a period of final due diligence. "In broad terms, the Blue Knights are trying to resolve issues regarding the structure of their proposed funding partnership with Ticketus as well as conducting further analysis of player contracts. "The proposed bid from Mr Bill Miller is, as he made clear on Friday, subject to specific conditions. "Both bidders have raised with us their strong desire to attain greater clarity on potential footballing sanctions the club may face and these remain issues to be resolved. "We believe that both bidding parties have the best interests of the club in mind and, frustrating as though it is for fans, it is better that these complex issues are addressed now rather than later. "It is imperative that whichever offer is taken forward can be delivered. For the avoidance of doubt, neither bid involves liquidation." Paul Murray, of the Blue Knights, said: "Frustrating though this is for everyone with the interests of the club at heart, the Blue Knights are supportive of the administration process and we think it is right the administrators are giving parties left in the race the opportunity to finalise their plans." Ally McCoist said: "It has been a frustrating time for everyone associated with the club but I would ask our fans to stick with us for a few more days as we should have a clearer idea of where we are. "The administrators are working hard behind the scenes in very difficult and complex circumstances to ensure the future of Rangers Football Club." Andy Kerr, President of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, added: "Our fans are frustrated by the further delay but hopefully the issues can be resolved in the next few days. "I'm sure every effort is being made to make progress and it is vitally important that we have clarification soon. It would be helpful if supporters allow Duff and Phelps to get on with their work at this crucial time." David Whitehouse added: "Because of what has happened at Rangers, the football authorities too have a difficult task as there are many unprecedented issues to deal with. "This is a complicated administration due to recent and historical events at Ibrox and while everyone wants to see a solution brought about quickly there is a need to grasp the reality of the situation. "It is all very well for some parties to talk in terms of delivering a Company Voluntary Arrangement. That is an administrator's primary objective. "However, that can only be delivered successfully if it is agreeable to creditors and it is fair to say that certain bids that have been submitted may not have been approved by creditors. "It is deeply regrettable that some parties have continued to present their bid as being a solution when it clearly was not the case. "In terms of timing, we believe that should an unconditional bid be made that would meet creditors' approval and a CVA process could begin, the club could emerge from administration within a period of two months and certainly prior to the commencement of next season. "If we proceed with an offer that is based on a sale of the business and assets, then we would expect the football club share to be transferred within a matter of weeks, with a preference of prior to the end of the current season. "We fully understand and share the frustration of the fans. However, we cannot ignore the fact that while they wish to see an exit from administration there is a not a bid on the table now that will deliver that. "Everyone should also bear in mind that if that is not achievable then we have to look at all options to keep the club going. "What would be the worst outcome is neither party deciding they wish to carry on. It is therefore not in the club's interest for people - failed bidders and concerned supporters - to be generating hostility to bidders who are trying to secure the club's future."

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DAVID WHITEHOUSE tells RangersTV of discussions with potential purchasers More... by Lindsay Herron PROSPECTIVE new owners of Rangers will meet with administrators Duff and Phelps tonight and tomorrow with a tight deadline of Friday set for the way forward for the club. In an exclusive interview with RangersTV, joint administrator David Whitehouse has revealed that a CVA - a company voluntary agreement - can still be used to take Rangers out of administration but says there is a more difficult scenario of the business becoming a "newco" which would heavy sanctions both domestically and in Europe. However, he has accelerated the search for prospective purchasers after failing to reach an agreement with the players on cost-cutting. YOU CAN WATCH INTERVIEW FOR FREE NOW ON RANGERS TV He said: "Ultimately the aim is to find new, strong owners to take the club forward with a financial base so we are now looking at other strategies. "In the next 48 hours or so we are approaching and meeting with those parties who have already expressed an interest in acquiring the club to understand their timetable and to try to accelerate what would be a normal timetable for this sort of transaction. "We have a meeting this evening and we have a series of meetings tomorrow and we will have to conclude our strategy in that regard during the course of Friday. "In light of the outcome of those discussions we can then form a view as to whether we can continue to operate the club within its existing cost base. "If we do form that view that would have to be over a very short period of time because the company is burning cash at a significant rate. "Alternatively, if we can't envisage completing a transaction within that time frame then we will have to either secure cost-cuts with the consent of the players or make some quite serious and deep redundancies. "That is something we will try to avoid because value in those redundancies will centre around the playing staff and that affects the underlying value of the business. "So it's a case of striking the balance of keeping the resource on the playing side which keeps the club active and competitive and attractive to a purchaser against what's needed off the field which is a sustainable and viable business. "The playing squad is at the heart of what any potential purchaser is looking to acquire so therefore it is critical that we have an infrastructure that is sustainable on the pitch. "We met with the players today and they know the constraints within which we are working. "They are working together to see if they re-address some of the barriers that were put in place yesterday to achieve the cost-cuts which would have enabled us to complete the season's fixtures and enable us to complete a sale or more orderly transition for the business." Mr Whitehouse says that the merits of the business will be open for any potential buyer to look and reiterated that Duff and Phelps are still in litigation over the recovery of funds they believe belong to the football club. He said: "We have detailed financial forecasts and inventories of assets that potential purchasers can look at as well as full details of the playing squad in terms of salary packages and length of period of contracts. "So they are the things they will be weighing up and one of the things they will want to understand as well is the strategy in terms of the playing staff through the management so Ally McCoist is feeding the information in that area. "This will enable them to find out what kind of investment is required in the years ahead. "A CVA is still very possible and the more likely route to achieve the greater value for creditors. "We have to look at the time constraint and if it is possible to conclude a transaction within a very short timetable simply because we can't deliver the cost-cuts necessary to keep the fabric of the business in place then we would also have to look at selling into a newco scenario. "That brings with it risks in terms of the level of European activity in the coming years and also sanctions from domestic football which would need to be subject to negotiation. "If we were to look to a very early sale of the business that is probably a more likely scenario. "What we don't want to do is mix the terminology here and start to portray liquidation as a process which creates the cessation of the business. "The liquidation will wind up a business following the sale of the business activities into a newco. "So in any scenario we would still envisage that Rangers Football Club could play football and operate as a football team. "We have always said that liquidation is a possible scenario. The preferred scenario from our perspective both in terms of the return to creditors and a platform for retaining an on-going continuous business is through a CVA. "That would take time to deliver and in the event that we can't bridge this funding gap which we have at the moment then we would have to look at alternative strategies. "There are still some disputes over the levels of liability and certain elements of that are under litigations so we can't go into the detail of that. "It is in the public domain that we have opened proceedings in a number of matters. "In any scenario either through a CVA or through a distribution through an administration cycle the general body of creditors are pooled as one pot. "The agreement of creditors' claims with impact quantum of the pot but it won't impact on the level of assets that fall into it for distribution. "We are aware of undertakings which were provided at the time of the acquisition of the business last May and these funds do not appear to have been invested in the business in the manner in which it was envisaged at the time of the transaction. "The current status of those funds is subject to the litigation that we have already opened."

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ADMINSTRATORS accelerate bid for new buyers of Rangers More... Duff & Phelps, the Administrators of Rangers Football Club, today issued the following statement. David Whitehouse, Joint Administrator, said: "We are announcing today we are accelerating the sale of Rangers Football Club. "The Club is in a perilous financial situation and that should not be under-estimated. Regrettably, we have been unable to agree cost-cutting measures with the playing staff on terms that will preserve value in the business. We understand the players' position as the scale of wage cuts required to achieve these savings without job losses were very substantial indeed. "In view of this, we are faced with a situation of making redundancies within the playing staff on such a scale that would materially erode the value of the playing squad. We are striving to strike a balance where cost-cutting measures can be implemented but do not destroy the fabric of the playing squad to the extent that it will inhibit the prospect of a sale. "However, no one should be in any doubt that in the absence of sufficient cost-cutting measures or receipt of substantial unplanned income, the Club will not be able to fulfil its fixtures throughout the remainder of the season. "As a result, we are expediting the sale process and over the next few days we will be holding discussions with prospective purchasers who have declared their interest. The Manager, Ally McCoist will play an integral part in thesediscussions. "If however it becomes apparent that the sale process cannot be accelerated there will be no choice but to implement very severe cost cutting measures at the Club." . and another statement - . Duff & Phelps, the Administrators of Rangers Football Club, today issued the following statement: Paul Clark, Joint Administrator, said: "As regards the Club playing in European competitions next season, there is no realistic prospect of the Club being able to fulfil its obligations prior to the March 31 deadline set by UEFA. "There are four main reasons for this and they lie in the stewardship of the Club prior to going into administration. First, as we have stated from the outset, the likelihood of the Club being able to emerge successfully from administration before this deadline as indicated by the Chairman was, at best optimistic given the perilous financial situation at the Club at the time of insolvency. "Second, the company accounts cannot realistically be signed off by auditors in a manner that would meet the criteria required by the footballing authorities. Even if the audited financial statements are issued prior to the end of March 2012 we would expect them to be qualified by the auditors such that under UEFA requirements the Club will have to satisfy a going concern test confirming how it will continue to be funded until the end of next season. Without knowing who will be the owner of the Club at 31 March, it is impossible to provide suitable comfort in this respect. "Thirdly under UEFA regulations the Club must have paid or come to a satisfactory settlement with all social taxes that were outstanding at 31 December 2011. We estimate those social taxes (being PAYE and NIC) to be at least £5m. We cannot now see a scenario where those taxes will have been paid or compromised to the satisfaction of HMRC by the end of March 2012. "The final major hurdle is that the Club must have paid or compromised all of its outstanding "Football Creditors" prior to the deadline of 31 March 2012. That issue is again extremely unlikely. "As administrators, we will make every effort to seek dispensation from the footballing authorities given the extraordinary circumstances in which the Club has been placed. "There has, perhaps inevitably, been speculation about Rangers Football Club facing liquidation. As we have stated previously, we remain very confident that Rangers will not cease to exist and the team will continue to play at Ibrox. "If a Company Voluntary Arrangement is not possible for any particular reason, any buyer of the Club and its assets would complete that purchase through a sale by the Administrators allowing the Football Club to continue to operate with the old company then being placed into liquidation prior to dissolution. "We are, however, doing our best to ensure the Company trades viably during administration and this will require a rigorous cost-cutting programme. Our preferred option remains to reach a point where a Company Voluntary Arrangement is reached and the Club can emerge from administration as a viable business within its existing corporate shell. As stated there is a possibility that if a new buyer is identified a financial case may be made to sell the business and assets of the old company, but that is not our preferred approach at this time. "We are aware of the statement from Mr King. We note his comments regarding the Ticketus arrangements but as this issue is subject to ongoing discussion and examination, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."

FRUSTRATION at failure to reach agreement on wage cuts with advisors More... DAVID WHITEHOUSE of club administrators Duff and Phelps has made the following statement to the media this evening: Today has been a very frustrating day. Earlier in the day, we believed we had agreed in principle a basis of cost-cutting measures with the players accepting substantial pay cuts and we are very grateful for their efforts in reaching that point. Sadly this evening we have been unable to reach agreement on the personal conditions sought by the advisors to the players in respect of those wage cuts. There is still some hope these issues can be resolved first thing in the morning but it is extremely disappointing we haven't been able to get there tonight.

ADMINISTRATORS' talks with players and PFA resume tomorrow More...