Rangers in administration

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Rangers in administration

Postby Sweltered » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:38 pm

Sad day for world football
OOH did they knock down McCaigs folly.....
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Frosty » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:22 pm

I thought that there would be a few more messages W.R.T. this on the Forum, Sweltered? Perhaps the ''Gers Fans'' are too shocked to discuss what's happening?
They seem to have failed to pay £9 Million pounds since the current Chairman has taken over, this is on top of the huge tax bill, reported close to £75 Million, that has been in the courts for a few years now.
Will the game go ahead on Saturday?
It isn't good times at Ibrox just now, a lot of people employed by Rangers and other clubs,who are waiting on money from them, are all wanting reassurances that they will be paid! This could have a financial domino effect that is yet to be witnessed in Scottish Football?!?

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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby WTC » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:54 pm

Lots of people waiting for medical treatment. £70m+ of unpaid tax, and that’s just Rangers so far, would help them.
Why should the big clubs not pay their way and deprive ‘us’ by dodging their tax payments when we have to pay ours?
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sweltered » Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:12 pm

I'm sure Rangers 70million is a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of tax avoidance perpetrated by sports teams in total. They just got caught. The question that should be asked is, why were they allowed to get into this level of debt in the first place. There must have been some serious mismanagement of their finances
OOH did they knock down McCaigs folly.....
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sheik Yir Erse » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:52 am

They got into a lot of debt to satisfy Murray's desire/ego. However the debt was £72m in 2004 and was down to £18m when Whyte took over.

People forget that Murray created a £57m share issue, which was roundly body-swerved by fans and he had to underwrite £50m of the £51.4m raised (i.e. Rangers fans only invested £1.4m into a £57m share issue)

Murray had previously been able to secure additional funding from external sources such as ENIC, Joe Lewis, Dave King, etc. to fund his ego driven approach - and was notoriously unchallenged for his profligacy by the Scottish Media - 'succulent lamb' indeed.

In 2000 they obviously took tax advice and started (like a number of clubs) using EBT's to pay players and staff in a "tax efficient way". Incredibly some of these EBT's were still in place when Whyte took over last year, even although the tax investigation into them has been ongoing for the past 3 years!

HMRC have been trying to close down the loopholes of the EBT's for a number of years, and Rangers happily went down the road of 'everyone else is doing it so why can't we" they were confident they would win any upcoming court case. However, crucially Rangers have "apparently" failed to implement/administer their EBT's correctly and are now woefully exposed on this front. The reason the value got so high is that it's not just the unpaid Tax, it's the penalties and interest accrued (which mounts daily) on a debt that HMRC believe started in 2001. Hence the reason it's got to such levels.

Rangers currently owe HMRC £2.4m for the Small Tax Case (plus the associate penalties) As the Big Tax Case findings have still to be published - they don't actually owe the £70m - theoretically there is a chance they might win the tribunal.

Therefore entering into Administration is nothing to do with the "£70m" debt as it doesn't exist yet.

David Murray may have saddled Rangers with a tax liability (granted a potentially fatal one), however when Craig Whyte took over they were effectively debt free. Since then the club has been run like an absolute shambles:

May 2011: Agrees Deal with Ticketus to mortage a proportion of 3 years of season ticket money for upfront payment of £24.4m prior to buying Rangers.
June 2011: Rangers default on first payment of ticketus deal - they can only afford to pay £3.5m of £9.5m first installment. They therefore extend the mortgage to a 4th year (season 2014-2015) to cover the £6m shortfall. (Bear in mind they'd borrowed £24.4m only *1* month before and now can't afford the first repayment!!! Meanwhile Whyte insists this money was *NOT* used to pay Lloyds their £18m - so where did it go?)
August 2011: Knocks back a £9.5m bid for Jelavic
Sept 2011: Levy and Macrae (Lawyers) take Rangers to court over unpaid bill of £35,000
Sept 2011: Telegraph Interview with Whyte: Did you borrow money against season tickets? "No"
Sept 2011: Judge finds for Martin Bain to ringfence £480,000 for future court action.
Oct 2011: Judge finds for HMRC to ring-fence £2.8m for Small Tax Case (which Craig Whyte agreed to settle as part of his purchasing agreement in May)
Oct 2011: BBC documentary on Craig Whyte stating that he controlled a company whilst serving a 7 year ban as Director.
Oct 2011: Craig Whyte instructs lawyers "to commence immediate legal proceedings against the BBC" No legal action ever taken.
Oct 2011: BBC banned from Ibrox.
Nov 2011: Judge finds for Donald McIntyre to ringfence £300,000 for future court action. Rangers eventually agree out of court settlement with McIntyre in January.
Nov 2011: Lawyers Fyfe Ireland are due to submit for Small Claims of £1,260 for unpaid bill against Rangers holding company. Holding company agrees to settle out of court.
Jan 2012: Trading in Rangers shares suspended due to lack of audited accounts.
Jan 2012: Sells Jelavic for £5.5m - losing the club £4m in value in 5 months.
Feb 2012: Judge finds against Whyte and describes his evidence as "wholly unreliable" during court case for his refusal to pay for work done on his home.
Feb 2012: Whyte finally admits borrowing money against season tickets.
Feb 2012: Whyte refuses to hold an AGM and publish audited accounts due to upcoming Tax Case (even although the Tax case has been ongoing for 3 years and they have been able to publish accounts and have AGM's in that time)
Feb 2012: Administration petition from Rangers Directors
Feb 2012: Administration petition from HMRC due to £9m in unpaid PAYE and and VAT accrued since Craig Whyte took charge.

So you can say all you want about Murray and Co and them running up debt, however all of the above has happened on Whyte's watch, and he certainly is dragging the name of the club to the lowest of the low.

Some Rangers fans have seen through him from the start, whilst others cling to the "he's playing his cards close to this chest - surely there must be a plan"

The plan is most likely to be either pre-pack administration - i.e. the Administrators sell the existing clubs assets to a new "Rangers 2012" and use the money generated to pay off some of the debts of "Rangers 1872". Rangers 1872 essentially then folds. This could also involve selling Murray Park to property developers - such as Andrew Ellis. Rangers 2012 essentially starts again but debt free, however there is continuity of service for employees, etc.

.... or the club is liquidated, and ceases to exist and Rangers 2012 starts up as a new company.

Either way the future is not bright, and it's not particularly Orange either!
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Hume » Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:46 am

Image

That's a bit low bill
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby bill » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:27 am

Well spotted Hume :lol:
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sheik Yir Erse » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:12 pm

Decent article here on the BBC website explaining things:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-14880473

Tragically it was posted 4 hours after my post above - I could have saved myself a lot of effort if I'd just waited on them doing their bit. Or maybe the BBC read the KF? :lol:

The more I think about this the more I cannot see them surviving in Administration. There are massive costs associated with running the club and I fail to see where the revenue is coming from. Most games are paid in advance through season ticket revenue, therefore it can only be 'pay at the gate' that would generate revenue - surely? The last pay per ticket game attracted less than 18,000. Do they cancel the Season Tickets and make all ST holders unsecured creditors, and force people to pay at the gate to generate revenue? The catering doesn't belong to them, so it doesn't really matter how many pies and bovril your buy - you're lining someone else's pocket. The merchandise belongs to someone else - so running out to buy strips isn't going to help. The systematic selling of the family silver is now beig laid bare for all to see.

It has become increasingly apparent that Whyte's goal since Day 1 was to take the club into Administration - why else would you decide to deduct NI & PAYE from salaries and not pay it to HMRC - I can only assume you're trying to get away with as much as you possibly can - as you've no intention of ever paying it.

If you look at the detail of HMRC's petition for an Administrator - they argued that the day-to-day running of the club needs to be taken away from the current board as quickly as possible and handed to someone independent. The court agreed! I noticed some forums bemoaning the fact that Whyte was seen leaving Glasgow last night, and "was there not work to do at Rangers???" Short answer is "No" - day-to-day control of the club now lies solely with the 2 Administrators (who incidentally will probably become the highest paid employees at Rangers, charging around £7,000+ per week EACH for their services) One of the Administrators first roles is to ensure the Administrator gets paid!

If the current board of directors are not fit to run Rangers, how can they be 'fit and proper' to run 'Rangers 2012'?

Would other football fans be happy to see Rangers 2012 re-emerge for next season with zero debt, financed by the money which has 'disappeared', and parachuted straight back into the SPL with a 15 point deduction? Meaning they'll probably finish 2nd anyway!

Although many Celtic fans are 'gloating' over the current predicament at Ibrox, I have spoken to football fans of many teams - and they are all of the same position - they want to see Rangers serve a suitable punishment for what they've done.

So - pay what you're due, don't try to avoid it, take your medicine, suck it up, go through X years in the wilderness as punishment for the 10 years advantage you had over everyone else. Emerge at the other end, leaner, fitter, and sentence served. Re-emerge as a club run by the supporters for the supporters - and not the charlatans you've had at the helm for the last 12 years - who have taken Rangers to the brink of extinction. Dare I say it, there might even be some 'dignity' attached to the above process.
Last edited by Sheik Yir Erse on Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby giantredwood » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:31 pm

I'm getting fed up of all the pundits, politicians, journalists etc who are all trying to tell us that the demise of Rangers will be a tragedy for Scottish football and that the Scottish game really needs a big club like them to keep it interesting and to keep the TV money coming in. What a load of absolute nonsense, do these people have very short memories? It's barely five minutes since Rangers and their equally odious counterparts on the other side of the city were desperate to leave Scotland and play in the English Premier League and would have done so with nary a backward glance at the Scottish game if they had been allowed to.
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sweltered » Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:29 pm

I suspect that mr Whyte will have siphoned off several million already. Not bad for a 1 pound investment
OOH did they knock down McCaigs folly.....
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sheik Yir Erse » Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:50 am

Sweltered wrote:I suspect that mr Whyte will have siphoned off several million already. Not bad for a 1 pound investment


It would appear that 'several' in this instance = 24 :shock:
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sweltered » Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:19 pm

Yes indeed, what's the bets that money now resides in Zurich and he skips the country
OOH did they knock down McCaigs folly.....
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby LANDROVER ROGER » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:02 am

A pound coin was thrown onto the pitch at Ibrox. Police are trying to determine whether it was a missile or a takeover bid.
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby Sheik Yir Erse » Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:55 am

Apologies for the length of these 2 exerts - however if you're short of time, just read the interesting red bits!!

The most amazing thing about this entire episode is that for us 'internet bampots' (according to the mainstream Scottish Media of Young/Traynor/Keevins, etc) none of this is a surprise :shock:

The following blog was written on April 22nd 2011 i.e. before Whyte's takeover was even concluded!!!

rangerstaxcase wrote:To summarise the situation, Rangers FC are currently appealing tax assessments for underpayment of taxes of £24m and interest of between £10-12m. If the club loses the current case, it will be the subject of a penalty hearing that could see an additional £18-24m being piled on top. The evidence against the Ibrox club is overwhelming. I have seen evidence that leaves me in no doubt that within Rangers the knowledge that what they were doing was illegal was both widespread and explicit.

In parallel with the tax drama, we have had front-row seats to a theatre of the absurd production: Rangers’ takeover saga. With the assistance of a well-oiled media machine, public relations teams for prospective custodians have had little difficulty getting publicity. Truth and transparency have been victims in these killing fields of agenda-driven misinformation. Most damaging of all for Scottish football is that Rangers’ supporters have been handed a never-ending series of straws at which to clutch.

The takeover scenarios boil down to two options currently: Craig Whyte and a hurriedly thrown together trial-balloon linked to current Rangers directors Paul Murray (no relation to former Chairman, Sir David) and South African-based Dave King. Murray and Lloyds Banking Group appear to be throwing their weight behind the Whyte plan. However, the sub-committee of the Rangers board charged with assessing Whyte’s proposal are less than impressed. Everything I can glean from this situation suggests that they are right to be concerned.

Whyte does not have the money to fund the takeover on his own. However, he does appear to have secured some of the credit required to allow him to conclude a deal. His plan would pay off the bank completely (allowing Lloyds to get off stage and to be nowhere near the scene should the tax bill hit). Sir David Murray will also benefit by putting as much distance between himself and the imminent disaster that awaits what was once the jewel in his crown. (I am very doubtful if Murray will receive much, if anything, for his shares. Rangers’ shares are truly almost worthless to any informed investor just now.) As discussed in the previous blog, it is a virtual certainty that Whyte will flip the debt taken on to finance the deal back on to Rangers FC. So far from becoming debt-free, the debt may actually increase as a result of this transaction. (Whyte’s reluctance to speak on the record provides the cover of deniability when the saviour status accorded him in many corners of the press falls short of reality). The deal for Whyte becomes a low-cost gamble. If the tax case hits, he and his creditors will have priority to pick over Rangers’ bones. It is likely that he seeks more control than the 85% shareholding Murray can give him to further enhance the claims of Rangers’ new creditors in the event of administration.

If Whyte is able to clear the bank debt for £20-21m, he can get rid of Murray for a nominal fee. There are other creditors who would not be cleared now, but so long as they can be subordinated down the creditor priority list in the event of administration, they will not matter. In this scenario, Whyte may not have much reason to care about the tax bill! If Whyte’s due diligence has produced fire sale valuations of Ibrox, Murray Park, and player contracts in place at the time as exceeding this total, then he and his backers have no reason to fear the tax bill. The worst case would be that they get their money back. The best case would be that Rangers win their appeal of the tax bills in their possession and they could then sell the club for a decent profit.

There are a couple of challenges with this analysis. Firstly, it takes a very generous valuation of property values around Ibrox and Murray Park to get close to these valuations. How much will continuing player contracts be worth in August 2011? Others will be able to estimate these values better than I can, but I struggle to make this deal add up. That would not present a problem. In every deal, there is someone whose optimism and valuation exceeds that of the man on the other side.

Much more serious for Rangers fans are implications of such a strategy for Rangers as a football club.
Under the status quo, Lloyds would be treated as both a secured and preferred creditor. HMRC would have by far the largest claim on Rangers assets, but would be an unsecured creditor. With total debts in the region of about £90m, Rangers’ survival would depend upon Lloyds and HMRC agreeing to accept pennies on the pound and allowing the football team to continue in operation. The PR problems that would face a High Street bank in being held responsible for closing Rangers would help build pressure for both Lloyds and HMRC to do a deal. However, a new creditor in the form of Whyte and his backers, would be more immune to such special pleading. Their business plan would explicitly require that they do not share with any of the subordinated creditors. HMRC can veto any creditor deal that would keep Rangers going. Whyte and backers would only be able to force the discussions to a conclusion that sees them take virtually all Rangers’ assets by pushing for… the L-word: Liquidation.

This explains the hostility to the Whyte proposal from the existing Rangers board. Whyte is anything but a messiah, and actually amplifies the risks to Rangers’ existence. Venerable Rangers-first types like Johnston and Greig would see that far from revitalising their club (as the PR leaks promised), this is a vulture capitalist play. It is actually quite a good and credible distressed debt investing opportunity that exploits the aversion of Lloyds, and in particular, Sir David Murray to be on stage when the curtain could fall. The only real mystery remains over quite why Whyte wants the support of the board. With 85% of the shares, he would be free to fire the board within minutes of taking over. Per the previous blog, 15% of shareholders can block a change in shareholder rights. There may also be a ’poison pill’ provision with this threshold as part of previous deals with Dave King. This remains yet another factor that the main players seem reluctant to clarify, but Rangers fans and small shareholders must be used to being lied to and misled by now.

The Paul Murray / Dave King situation seems to be a poorly thought out effort to maintain morale while they oppose Whyte. Putting actual cash into Rangers FC just now by a capital increase would be a waste of money prior to the tax case being resolved. After the tax case, if Rangers, by some strange quirk of fate, manage to win, there will be plenty of financing options available, and one that leaves the bank and/or Sir David Murray in place would not be amongst the most popular. However, we come back to the central point of this blog: no discussion of Rangers’ finances or ownership can be made without reference to the tax case. We have already deconstructed the idiocy of believing that anyone else will pay the tax bill on Rangers’ behalf. It is a stupid notion that could only be promoted by the most cynical or the most innumerate. The Whyte plan appears to greatly increase the chances of Rangers FC disappearing altogether should he win his battle but the club loses the tax case.


I also offer the following post made by (admitedly a 'Celtic-minded' blogger) This one was made on June 7th 2011 (oh, and for the record he's being sarcastic!)

Rangers’ fans should be thanking their pantheon of heroes from the past that Craig Whyte is the owner of their club. As a “keen Rangers fan” Whyte will, no doubt, act with a mixture of emotion and the business acumen that has seen him amass such a fortune for a man just turned forty.

Celtic fans had better get used to the sounds of celebration coming from Ibrox. Mr. Whyte means business.
It could, of course, have been easily so different for the Ibrox club.

Had Rangers been taken over by someone who just saw the financial opportunities of a distressed company, rich with under-productive assets and a loyal customer base, the club would have been vulnerable.

The following scenario COULD have happened had someone else, an asset stripper, taken over Rangers.

Buying the company for one pound he could have also purchased Rangers debt from the bank.

Once in charge, an asset stripper intent on squeezing the most profit from his investment could then try to securitise revenue streams.

He might try to borrow money against future season ticket sales, say, for the next four years.
Securitising £40 million of future season book income would allow the club to receive about £30 million in cash now.
An owner like Mr. Whyte, who has Rangers best interests at heart, would use that money to either invest in players or to pay any tax bills that crystallise in the future. Had someone else bought Rangers and securitised future season ticket money, he might feel tempted to just pocket that cash for himself.

That sounds like a scam to most, but it is usually perfectly legal. This hypothetical other owner could have forced Rangers to lend that £30 million in cash to its new parent company.

The parent company would be then free to use that borrowed money as they saw fit, such as paying all of it as a dividend to its own shareholder(s). If the club was then to become insolvent, an administrator would try to pursue the parent company for the repayment of the loan. However the parent company would have no cash to repay the loan after paying the dividend. It would then have to file for bankruptcy too.
The loan from Rangers to its parent company simply could not be repaid.

In this entirely hypothetical and fictional scenario, the Rangers season ticket money would be in an off shore account supporting a billionaire lifestyle.

Fortunately for Rangers this could not happen with Craig Whyte and the club's own new parent company. Mr. Whyte's circular yesterday included a pledge that Rangers' parent company would only borrow from the club if it was "principally for the Club's benefit". The penalty for breaking this pledge is that Rangers' £18m debt to its parent company would be cleared. A different owner might have seen an opportunity to pocket £30m cash in return for giving up his right to get £18m repaid. A different owner, if he was exceptionally greedy, might pocket the £30m cash and then try to argue that the loan to the parent company was "principally for the Club's benefit" or might have had his legal team insert a loophole in the documents that rendered "the pledge" null and void. He would then also be able to demand the first £18m from the sale of the club's assets in administration.

Rangers FC and its many supporters can consider themselves very lucky. In their vulnerable state, they were delivered to an owner who is both a shrewd businessman and a “keen Rangers supporter”, Craig Whyte.

It would be churlish to not acknowledge the good fortune of the blue half of Glasgow.

There is now truly light at the end of their dark financial tunnel.


The truth was out there a long time ago! Sadly many Rangers fans (and mainstream Media) chose not only to shoot the messenger, but to burn the message before reading it! :?
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Re: Rangers in administration

Postby bill » Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:41 pm

Looks like the words to "Follow Follow "will have to be changed. :roll: :lol:
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