Blue Knights make final bid to take over Rangers

Sports writer

Sunday 22 April 2012

FORMER Rangers director Paul Murray will meet administrators today to attempt to finalise a deal to save the Ibrox football club from liquidation.

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by Richard Wilson

The two parties are negotiating over an exclusivity fee, with Duff & Phelps seeking £500,000 in return for naming the Blue Knights consortium, led by Murray, as the preferred bidders and granting them two weeks to carry out due diligence and begin talks with players whose contracts contain escape clauses. In return, the Knights also want confirmation that the administrators can deliver Craig Whyte's majority shareholding.

However, Paul Clark of Duff & Phelps revealed yesterday that Ticketus – the finance company that lent Whyte £27 million to fund his takeover of the club last year – hold the key to the shareholding.Clark said: "Ticketus have always told us that they have the ability to get Whyte's shares. They have said, 'You don't need to do anything Duff & Phelps, we'll deal with it'. I believe they are still talking to [Whyte] and they are close to a solution. The one thing the [Knights] need to do is put their financial commitment down. We have made it clear they have to do that now with no more delay."Bill Miller, the American towing tycoon, has pledged to wire £500,000 tomorrow in return for being named preferred bidder. He will offer £11.2 million to buy the club and plans to move the assets to a new shell company, leaving Duff & Phelps to attempt to take the old company out of administration through a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). This is effectively liquidation by a circuitous route.Miller last week released details of his bid, which is on condition of a new Rangers company not being subjected to sanctions by the Scottish Premier League, who have proposed a financial fair play rule that would impose points and financial penalties in such circumstances. That resolution will be voted on at an SPL board meeting on April 30, but the administrators last night claimed Miller had been involved in discussions with the league and was close to getting "comfort" on what penalties his new Rangers company would face."He's been speaking to the SFA and SPL," said Paul Clark of Duff & Phelps. "Some of those discussions we have been involved in, some of them we haven't. He's pretty close to getting 'comfort'. They are very close with discussions. The prospect of it being no measures is nil."Yet it is understood that Stewart Regan, the Scottish Football Association chief executive, has held no discussions with Miller. The SPL would not confirm or deny any talks, but are thought to consider Miller's plan intriguing. They are prepared to speak to whoever is named preferred bidder, although there is some doubt at the league that the financial fair play resolution will be voted through by the member clubs.The Blue Knights will self-fund their £10m offer for the club, and the money is in place. They would then seek a CVA to retain the club in its original form. They would have been named preferred bidders nine days ago had Ticketus not refused to pay the £500,000 exclusivity fee. The Knights and Ticketus previously agreed a deal to take the finance firm out of the creditors' pot in return for becoming involved in the Knights' bid for the club.The Knights are willing to pay the exclusivity fee, but it is non-refundable and they risk losing the full amount if the administrators cannot deliver Whyte's 85% shareholding. Either the Knights or the administrators will need to compromise on their stance, or Miller will become the preferred bidder. The administrators are adamant Ticketus, whose original loan was personally secured by Whyte, can reach an agreement with the current owner to relinquish his shareholding.l Sport: page 7

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Blue Knights make final bid to take over Rangers

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