Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd claims he'd have bought Rangers......

[ian1964 10,409]

.....for £8.5m if not for the 'big tax case'.

 

SHEPHERD held crunch talks with Charles Green two years ago but says the legal battle with the taxman scuppered any hopes of becoming a majority shareholder in the ailing club.

 

FORMER Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd last night lifted the lid on his failed bid to take over Rangers.

 

The renewable energy tycoon revealed he was close to securing an £8.5million buyout of the Ibrox outfit in 2012.

 

He held crunch talks with Gers’ chief executive Charles Green at the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club.

 

But Shepherd said the club’s long-running legal battle with the taxman scuppered any hopes of becoming a majority shareholder in the ailing club.

 

He said he was wary the legal battle could affect the profitability of the club despite assurances the purchase of the “newco” would not be affected by the former club’s tax dealings.

 

Shepherd, who has never before spoken about his attempt to buy Gers, said: “We looked into it but we unfortunately couldn’t make any headway with Charles Green. It was impossible to agree a deal at that time.

 

“The tax legal proceedings were still ongoing.

 

“We were assured the company was OK but it certainly didn’t do the deal any good. It was always in the background and it was always hanging above us.”

 

He added: “Nobody really knew what decision was going to be made at the end of the day, whether the club was going to be hit by millions or walk away paying a small amount.

 

“No one knew how you could keep the proceedings away from the main company even though we were assured that it was not going to be an issue.”

 

It is understood that Shepherd, who made more than £50million from the sale of Newcastle United in June 2007, was also wary of making a deal with Green.

 

A source close to the talks said: “Freddy didn’t want to get involved with Charles Green. He didn’t think he was the right man to be handling his life savings.

 

“Freddy was due to become a majority shareholder in the club but it ultimately didn’t happen and the whole deal collapsed.”

Sir David Murray accuses taxman of sticking knife into Ibrox club as HMRC lose appeal

 

Shepherd’s revelations back up David Murray’s claims on Wednesday that the potential £46million tax bill at stake in the legal case had deterred potential buyers when Craig Whyte snapped up the club for just £1 in 2011.

 

Even when the “newco” were established, the spectre of the case left Shepherd doubting the wisdom of getting involved. He said: “We didn’t think it was the right time because of the difficulties the club was going through.

 

“Charles Green approached us and asked us if we were interested in buying such a huge club.

 

“It’s a worldwide brand known all over the world. That’s why we thought we might be able to get involved in it.

 

“With a club the size of Rangers, they should not have had the problems they’ve had. It’s a great club and hopefully the current owners can push it back to where it was.”

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-newcastle-chairman-freddy-shepherd-3841624

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Green knew he was going to liquidate the Oldco so it wasn't an issue.

[compo 6,122]

it would just have taken someone prepared to take a gamble on the outcome of the mythical big tax case and it would have been a lot better now

[buster. 4,808]

The renewable energy tycoon revealed he was close to securing an £8.5million buyout of the Ibrox outfit in 2012.

 

He held crunch talks with Gers’ chief executive Charles Green at the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club.

 

But Shepherd said the club’s long-running legal battle with the taxman scuppered any hopes of becoming a majority shareholder in the ailing club.

 

That doesn't make sense to me !

 

When Green was CEO of RIFC (or post asset purhase), that owned the club (TRFC), the BTC wasn't an issue.

 

--------------------------------------------

 

The article is imprecise as Green wasn't CEO at the time.

 

He was trying to get money together to meet the 8.5M that a CVA would have required.

 

However the BTC was still a red herring given that the CVA was never going to be approved and this would have been known at the time of Green speaking to Shepherd (see below).

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/rangers-in-crisis-freddy-shepherd-ready-1128202

Edited July 11, 2014 by buster.

[Tannochsidebear 2,306]

Agree with the above comments. The article's credibility is quickly torn apart without any need for research. The article's timeline & slant simply could not have happened.

[Zappa 0]

We dodged a couple of bullets managing to avoid involvement by Green's pals Shepherd and McDonald anyway.

 

Guys like them are just a different class of sp!v that would have had their snouts glued to the trough.

[der Berliner 3,239]

Timeline or not, the EBT case hanging over the club letting Whyte in in the first place, as well as Green and Co. later on. It made the company toxic and it is a shame that those who might have saved us pre-CVA-failure either couldn't get their act together (Blue Knights), had their hands tied (King), or were far to late (McCollCo). Not to mention that HMRC apparently decided rather late that a CVA would not be considered ... whereas not too long before they "voluntarily" lost out big time with the Vodaphone deal:

 

HMRC tax deal with Vodafone 'may have been illegal'