Hearts have been told the club will have to wait until next Friday at least for confirmation of whether its main creditors have accepted a Company Voluntary Arrangement.
A meeting of creditors was held yesterday which had been considered pivotal to the future of the Edinburgh side, with both the club's majority shareholder UBIG and Ukio Bankas asked to decide whether or not to accept the CVA proposal. The requested that the meeting be adjourned to allow time for them to consider the offer.
UBIG, which is owed £15.5m by Hearts, and Ukio Bankas, due £8.2m, will return in a week to deliver their verdict, with a rejection of the CVA having been regarded as the death knell for the Tynecastle club since it would force the club towards liquidation. By contrast, a decision to accept the offer could allow Hearts to exit administration.
Ukio Bankas, which has a security over the club's Tynecastle home, have provisionally agreed to accept £2.5m as part of the proposals, while UBIG - as an unsecured creditor - have been offered nothing. Since the two collapsed Lithuanian companies are due around a combined 80% of Hearts' total £28.5m debt, their vote at the creditors' meetings is all that really matters.
"The meeting of creditors planned for November 22 has been adjourned at the request of the administrators of Ukio and UBIG, who require more time to consider the CVA proposal," said Bryan Jackson, of BDO, Hearts' administrators. "As UBIG's appointment was very recent and the administrator of Ukio is liaising with them over the proposal it was decided that it would be sensible to allow them a further period to look at the details of the CVA document. The creditors meeting will now be held at 10am and the members [shareholders] meeting on November 29 at Tynecastle."
Ross County are scheduled to arrive at the ground tomorrow, the Dingwall side comprising Hearts' next league opposition. A game of football has often been a distraction for those at the Edinburgh club but even Gary Locke, the team's manager, has his mind on the CVA decision yesterday.
"We've been through a torrid six or seven months," said Locke. "I'm not just the manager of Hearts, I am a supporter and I am just hoping for the best. I'm a positive person so I try to look at the positive things. I'm hoping everything will go the way we want it to and we can move forward."
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