Rangers and the £108m debt
The Herald newspaper has redeemed itself to a great extent today revealing that Rangers owe £108m to Murray Group Holdings.
The same newspaper has run various stories over the last few months proclaiming that various individuals are on the verge of buying Rangers suggesting that a £30m bid is all that is required to make the garden rosy again.
£30m or less may buy Rangers but with the overall debt of Murray Group Holdings causing Lloyds/TSB serious concern they are unlikely to allow a fairly cash-rich part of the empire be given away at a bargain price.
The level of debt owed to the Murray Group explains why no local businessmen have given serious thought to buying Rangers.
Anyone looking to buy Rangers is likely to require to pay off a serious chunk of the debt to the Murray Group, make a realistic offer for Sir David Murray’s shares and also satisfy Llyods/TSB that they have a sound business plan to pay off the debt in a realistic time frame.
Until those conditions are met Rangers can expect to function in the same manner as they have over the last 18 months with incoming transfers unlikely regardless of how much money the club generates.
How Celtic capitalise on this is the question for the Celtic board- whoever takes over as manager from Tony Mowbray will comeinto the job knowing that their only domestic rivals are at their lowest possible ebb.
Herald story