Paul Murray insists his Blue Knights consortium can save club from liquidation

[ian1964 10,514]

BLUE KNIGHTS figurehead Paul Murray says he has no intention of pushing the crisis-hit club into liquidation should his consortium be chosen as the preferred bidder.

 

Murray was responding after Paul Clark, of administrators Duff and Phelps, warned over the weekend that "it is certainly possible Rangers would be liquidated" when new owners take charge.

 

The Blue Knights, American investors Club 9 Sports and a Singapore-based group are all expected to make formal bids for the Ibrox club by Wednesday, the deadline set by the administrators before they choose a preferred bidder.

 

Murray, a former Rangers director, claims he is closer to an agreement to include in his consortium Ticketus, the investment firm whose controversial £24.4million season ticket deal allowed Craig Whyte to complete his takeover of the club in May last year.

 

And if Ticketus, who own the rights to a tranche of future season tickets at Ibrox, can be brought on board then Murray is hopeful Rangers can come out of administration with a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

 

"It seems the other groups are pushing to put the club into liquidation," Murray told the Scottish Daily Mail.

 

"That is not what I want to do. They have their own reasons for wanting that - but it's not part of my plan.

 

"Paul Clark was misquoting me if he said I was considering that. I didn't say that.

 

"I'm a little bit surprised and concerned, in fact, that the administrators seem to be almost moving things towards liquidation in the last couple of days.

 

"From my point of view, first and foremost, we want to reach agreement with creditors - a CVA.

 

"That's the whole reason I'm talking to Ticketus. Those talks are ongoing and we're getting closer, although it's not done yet.

 

"I'm trying to put in place a restructuring deal that involves a CVA. I think the football and financial benefits of that outweigh the liquidation option.

 

"So I don't know why Paul Clark seems to be briefing in that direction. It is certainly not my intention to put the club into liquidation."

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2012/04/02/rangers-in-crisis-paul-murray-insists-his-blue-knights-consortium-can-save-club-from-liquidation-86908-23810481/

[Bears 0]

"It seems the other groups are pushing to put the club into liquidation," Murray told the Scottish Daily Mail.

 

"That is not what I want to do. They have their own reasons for wanting that - but it's not part of my plan.

 

How does he know this?

If he knows for sure they are going to do this then tell us how he knows, give us concrete proof. He's starting to sound very Craig Whyte in his desperation to get his hands on us.

 

I'm not saying he's a bad guy or has bad intentions, and i may well give the BK's my full backing, but until i know what each and every group have to offer the future of Rangers then i'm on the fence

[GovanAllan 0]

Think all parties must have a pretty good idea what everyone is bringing to the table, Ibrox holds secrets like a water and sieve.

[calscot 0]

I get the feeling Ticketus still want a huge return for their money and that's why an agreement hasn't yet been reached. We keep talking about owing them about £24M, but I think they want more like £35M, with at least £4M of the £24M owed in VAT (which is only due as and when the tickets are sold). We're talking Wonga.com type interest.

 

I don't think they just want their money back, they want to protect the exceptional deal they have made in their favour. It sounds like Murray is trying to get them to be more realistic and failing.

[der Berliner 3,363]

I would assume that Ticketus is still working along with TBK, but not (as far as we know) with the other two (though we still know next to nothing about the Singapore folk). Should TBK get the green light, I would assume that he takes Ticketus out of the CVA (which should ease that instant pain somewhat) and deal with them somewhat later, possibly using them as a "bank" for the time being. It might not be ideal in many ways, but IMHO far better an option than to annoy Ticketus with getting the club into liquidation and trying to work on from there ... remember that we would still need someone to sell the tickets, and someone to provide a sound "bank facility".