Frankie 8,190 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Ticketus wins £17.7m legal action with ex-Rangers owner Craig Whyte Ticketus has won a £17.7m legal action against former Rangers owner Craig Whyte over a deal it struck with him for Ibrox season tickets. The London-based ticketing firm announced on Wednesday that a judgment had been issued in its favour last Friday as part of a claim against the businessman. Ticketus had entered into an agreement with Mr Whyte in May 2011 to purchase the rights to around 100,000 Ibrox season tickets until 2015. In a statement on Wednesday, the investee company of Octopus Investments said it would not have entered into the agreement with Mr Whyte had it known about his previous seven-year ban as a director that he received in 2000. Mr Whyte used the £17.7m Ticketus paid for the tickets to wipe out the clubâ??s £18m debt to Lloyds Banking Group, which effectively sealed his purchase of Sir David Murrayâ??s 85% stake in the club for £1. Representatives for Mr Whyte, who is launching legal action against Charles Green and the current Ibrox regime claiming they were acting as a "front" for him during the asset sale last summer, responded to the judgment, stating that he would be appealing it. A spokesman for Ticketus said: "Ticketus can confirm that it has been undertaking legal proceedings against Mr Whyte. As part of these proceedings, Ticketus confirms that a judgment was issued in its favour on Friday 5th April 2013 following a claim it made against Craig Whyte. "The judgment relates to Ticketusâ?? claim against Mr Whyte for the serious and deliberate misrepresentations he made during the due diligence process that Ticketus conducted ahead of entering into the ticket purchase agreement with Rangers Football Club plc ('the Club') in May 2011, when Mr Whyte owned the Club. "Ticketus would not have entered into the ticket purchase agreement with the Club if Mr Whyte had disclosed, as required, relevant information concerning his previous seven year disqualification from serving as a director, and the reasons for the disqualification. "The judgment consequently is for damages of £17.7 million, which is the total amount Ticketus invested through the ticket purchase agreement; (further interest of around £680,000 and costs have also been awarded). Ticketus will now seek payment of these sums from Mr Whyte. If such payment is not made, Ticketus will enforce its rights to receive such damages. Ticketus can confirm that during the proceedings Mr Whyte also raised counter-claims against Ticketus. These were rejected in the judgment." The statement continued: â??The judgment does not preclude Ticketus from continuing in the proceedings to pursue Mr Whyte under the personal and corporate guarantees built into the ticket purchase agreement as it seeks to recover funds on behalf of its investors." Last year the then-administrators of Rangers sought guidance from the Court of Session over the Ticketus deal in a bid to confirm that the ticketing firm was not a secured creditor of the oldco. Duff and Phelps were successful in doing so as Lord Hodge found that Ticketus did not, under Scots law, own future season ticket sales at Rangers as it had claimed. He established that the company owned "personal contractual rights" to around 100,000 season ticket sales in a deal that could be breached by administrators if it was deemed to be in the interests of the creditors overall. Last May, Duff and Phelps gave Ticketus formal notification that the deal was being terminated, which was not opposed by the London firm. As a result, the company was listed as a creditor worth £26.7m in the failed CVA, which consigned the oldco Rangers to liquidation under the control of neutral insolvency firm BDO. Following the failure to strike a deal with creditors, the administrators sold the Charles Green-led consortium the club's assets in a £5.5m deal that saw them transferred to a newco, Sevco Scotland Ltd, which was later renamed The Rangers Football Club Limited. After the Ticketus judgment was confirmed, a spokesman for Mr Whyte said: "This judgment is not really a surprise and Mr Whyte feels he was not given a chance to represent himself in this case. "He will be appealing this judgment to a higher court and disputes the claims." http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/220857-ticketus-wins-177m-legal-action-with-ex-rangers-owner-craig-whyte/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,190 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Not a surprise this result (which was handed down on Friday). It's no wonder Whyte is now trying to find money any which way he can to avoid bankruptcy. This will also seriously affect the outcome of the BDO & police investigations into the sale of the club. More than a few people won't be sitting comfortably. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Would like to believe somebody would go to jail. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forlanssister 3,062 Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) Would like to believe somebody would go to jail. Please avoid such stuff - Frankie Edited April 10, 2013 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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