chilledbear 16 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/editor-s-picks/craig-whyte-bid-far-from-done-deal-but-it-s-getting-close-to-crunch-time-1.1093800 Unsigned, unsealed and undelivered. Sources close to the takeover talks at Rangers have issued a warning that Craig Whyteââ?¬â?¢s bid for Rangers is far from done and dusted. SportTimes understands Whyteââ?¬â?¢s legal team have still to see the paperwork over the proposed deal regarding debt repayment with Lloyds Banking Group. And there are several issues still to be resolved with Sir David Murray, owner of Rangers. The bid made a huge leap forward yesterday when Lloyds reached agreement with Whyte over repayment of the clubââ?¬â?¢s debt. It is believed chairman Alastair Johnston was en-route from his base in Ohio to brief the Ibrox board, be available for meetings with Whyte, and to try and push a deal through so some sort of stability can be found as the team heads into the run-in of the SPL season with a championship to fight for. A banking source said today: ââ?¬Å?It is done and dusted with us and we are happy. It is up to Mr Whyte and Sir David Murray to do the deal now, and they could have issues to resolve.ââ?¬Â The hitch to an agreement with Lloyds was the existence of what the Whyte team believed was an ââ?¬Å?exitââ?¬Â fee or early repayment cost. The bank, though, insisted Rangers hedged their repayments by tying them to the Libor rate, which is the rate that banks lend money to each other. This rate has slumped since the agreement was brokered, leaving the club with a shortfall believed to be just more than Ã?£1m. The Whyte camp have now made the deal, but still have to receive the paperwork from the bank. The settlement is understood to clear the vast majority of the debt to the bank. Rangersââ?¬â?¢ debt stood at Ã?£27.1m in June and is expected to be slashed to around Ã?£21m when the clubââ?¬â?¢s interim results are announced, possibly today or tomorrow. Informed sources said Whyte would clear as much as Ã?£17m of that debt, with a Ã?£4m debt loan retained on new terms. This would reduce the price of the overall deal. The Whyte takeover had been priced at Ã?£33m. Under it, he would buy 75% of Murrayââ?¬â?¢s shareholding, with Andrew Ellis, a property developer, taking a 25% stake. However, with the slashing of the debt, the overall purchase price could come down as low as Ã?£27m. A minor wrangle over the Albion car park site has also been resolved, but SportTimes under-stands there are still ââ?¬Å?issuesââ?¬Â in the talks with Murray. One source near the talks said: ââ?¬Å?The debt settlement is a major advance but there are still other matters to be resolved.ââ?¬Â Whyte is determined to bring the deal to a close after working on it for four months and spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on due diligence and lawyersââ?¬â?¢ fees. These unspecified ââ?¬Å?issuesââ?¬Â with Murray are over and above Rangersââ?¬â?¢ dispute with the tax authorities. It is still unclear how this will be resolved. The case between HMRC and Rangers looks likely to be heard next month, with a judgment unlikely before July or August. The dispute concerns an Employee Benefits Trust that began at Rangers in 2001. The annual reports show that a total of Ã?£47m was contributed by the club to this fund to recompense players. If found liable, Rangers could face a heavy bill amounting to Ã?£30m-plus. The club, however, is defending the case robustly. But sources today insisted there were other matters that Whyte and Murray had to settle before a change in ownership took place. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 0 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't expect this to go through. I want to be wrong, but I just see no evidence that it looks any more promising than failed attempts in the past. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanovitch 0 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't expect this to go through. I want to be wrong, but I just see no evidence that it looks any more promising than failed attempts in the past. Major embarrassment for Whyte if that is the case. To get to this stage and fail really will be quite epic! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 1 step forward and 2 steps back. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gers4Life 0 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Just for talking sake if the deal were to fail what happens next?? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,114 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Just for talking sake if the deal were to fail what happens next?? The usual sound-bites of some saying we have no money and there will be more cuts whilst AJ et al suggesting our relationship with the bank is fine etc. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gers4Life 0 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Cheers frankie, I just hope they can come to an amicable solution as it's dragged on long enough and move on to new and better things 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrahimHemdani 1 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 My information is that SDM set the deadline of today not Whyte as is stated he has other issues to resolve and whatever you say about Mr Murray, I think it is clear that he wants to ensure that whoever takes over the Club does have the necessary wherewithall not just to clear the current debt and even that is not clear (as �£5 million will still be on the never never). Informants in London say that Whyte does not have the money some of which is tied up in Offshore companies. The �£1 million LIBOR differential is also being paid by instalments. It is suggested that Ellis is putting up some property as collateral for his 25% share. It is also suggested that some if not all of the alleged �£5 million a year would come from developing, some may call it asset stripping the land in the south west corner e.g. the car park, hinshelwood flats area, etc. My information is that Murray's share is now down to less than �£5 million with under a million for other shareholders who want to take up the offer if it materialises and that Murray's share would go back to Whyte if Rangers have to pay a tax bill of that order or more (which is highly likely). As of an hour and a half ago the latest I had from a source close to Ellis was that the deal is not going ahead but it still looks like going down to the wire. Clearly Rangers want to tie in any sale with the announcement of the interim results and that is another reason for the time limit. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,370 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Why is Murray insisting on the new owner can invest �£25m over five years when he himself has not invested anything for a long time now?,he is no longer interested in Rangers,and hasn't been for years, so why the fuck does he not just go ahead with the offer from Whyte?. As far as I can see at the very least Whyte will clear our debt!!!. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ascender 352 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 One consistent thing Murray has always said is that he'll only ever sell the club to someone who has the means to take it to the next level or words to that effect. Of course, given how negligent he's been in the running of the club in recent years, its hard to believe he has the brass neck to come out with that, but I'm assuming he still has some sort of feeling for the club so maybe we should trust him on that one? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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