A new Daily Record - Horror Story (plus Kennedy back in the fold (maybe))

[der Berliner 3,249]

If you read the following, we might be on the brink of liquidation (and I leave it open for debate how the DR comes to that conclusion) ...

 

Kennedy ready to launch dramatic rescue bid

BRIAN KENNEDY could this morning launch an 11th-hour bid to rescue Rangers from the brink of oblivion.

 

Record Sport can reveal the Sale Sharks owner was preparing to make his move late last night at the end of another dramatic day in the ongoing takeover saga.

 

Administrators Duff and Phelps had earlier told prospective owners Bill Miller and Bill Ng they had 72 hours to cut a deal or the club faces the prospect of liquidation.

 

Kennedy, who withdrew from the bidding process last month, has become increasingly concerned about the plight of the crisis-hit club over the past few days after Paul Murray stepped back from the bidding process.

 

His fears were heightened yesterday after the administrators laid it on the line to the two remaining bidders, American financier Miller and Singapore businessman Ng, that they had to do a deal by the end of the week – or else.

 

If a deal can’t be cut then the nightmare scenario of liquidation would loom.

 

Joint administrator Paul Clark said: “We have made it clear to those involved that it is of paramount interest to the football club that a satisfactory deal be concluded without any further delay.”

 

And worryingly for Gers fans, Ng last night claimed he is still “miles away” from delivering a rescue package.

 

Kennedy had previously given his backing to Murray’s consortium and promised only to re-enter the race for control of the stricken club if the Blue Knights bid bit the dust.

 

He told me earlier this week of his growing anxiety for the future of the club and said: “With each day that passes without a solution being found a little bit of the football club is dying. This must not be allowed to continue.”

 

Kennedy was not available for comment last night but it is understood he is ready to re-engage with Duff and Phelps now Murray has stepped aside.

 

The Edinburgh-born millionaire fears the club could be liquidated if it falls back into the wrong hands and is getting ready to reactivate his own salvage mission.

 

Kennedy tendered one of five original bids but was eliminated from the running along with a mystery German rival – leaving Murray, Miller and Ng locked in a three-way battle to pick up the pieces left over from Craig Whyte’s catastrophic regime.

 

But he could yet emerge as the front-runner if he returns to the table today.

 

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday Duff and Phelps are suing Whyte’s lawyers Collyer Bristow for £25m.

 

The administrators allege Collyer Bristow breached its “rights and obligations” under the terms of Whyte’s takeover. And they’ve accused the firm of “professional negligence and a breach of fiduciary duty”.

 

The London-based legal firm deny the allegations. A spokesman said: “It is our intention to contest all claims in the strongest possible terms.”

 

Proper DR link to follow, the above comes from FF

Edited April 18, 2012 by der Berliner