Rangers plunged dramatically closer to liquidation last night as the Blue Knights withdrew their offer for the club.
As recently as Friday the Paul Murray led consortium were confident of being given preferred bidder status but were unable to lodge the £500,000 fee with Duff and Phelps to secure exclusive bidder status.
The decision of Ticketus to open talks with Billy Ng from Singapore seems to have scuppered the deal leaving the little known Asian as the only realistic bidder for the stricken club after Craig Whyte and Chicago-based Bill Miller went public with their contempt for each other.
In the third month of administration the options facing Duff and Phelps look bleak with liquidaton and the legal minefield that follows looking inevitable with each passing day.
A statement last night from the Blue Knights read: “We were also made aware that Ticketus had been in discussions with the Singaporean consortium who, on Friday, had offered Ticketus a “substantially” better deal to the one offered by us. We confirmed that we were not prepared to increase our offer to Ticketus, which we believe to be in the Club’s best interests.
“The consortium believes that the whole deal process has become incredibly complex and it is critical that a preferred bidder is appointed this week.
“As a consequence, and in the best interests of the club, the consortium has decided to take a step back.
“However, we stand ready to re-enter the process if a deal cannot be reached.”
David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps admitted: “It is disappointing the Blue Knights are withdrawing at this stage, particularly in the view of the fact that last week it was made clear to them and Ticketus that their indicative bid placed them in a strong position.
“We were therefore surprised that their offer to pay an exclusivity fee was withdrawn and, although discussions over the exclusivity fee continued over the weekend, no agreement was reached.
“We are aware that Ticketus has also been, at their own instigation, in parallel discussion with one of the other bidders over the last few weeks and it remains to be seen whether these discussions will be taken forward.
“We can reassure supporters that we look forward to making an announcement on a preferred bidder later this week, assuming no further hurdles are placed in our path.”
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Can anyone please clarify who owns the Rangers FC biggest assets, Ibrox & Murray Park? Will these properties both be sold in order to pay off some of the debts owed to the creditors? Could the tax office take ownership of these properties and sell them to the highest bidder?
A reminder to the ignorance of the mainstream media: Sequestration is the act of removing, separating, or seizing anything from the possession of its owner under process of law for the benefit of creditors or the state.
The media should be focusing their sympathy with the unpaid victims, not with the previous chairman who failed to pay bills and cheating by registering players illegally.
For Thai Tim re media collusion/failure vis-a-vis Rangers’ situation. Alex Thomson on Radio Snide last night. Essential listening.
http://soundcloud.com/jinkylarsson/alex-thomson-on-clyd
The playback gets stuck after 12 seconds. Pity I wanted to listen to that. Thanks anyway.
After persistence managed to listen. Loved the question put to Keevens: “Surely there must have been questions to be asked regarding the conduct of David Murray” Ha ha ha ha ha! How can Keevens answer that it depends on the colour of ones apron at the local lodge!
thought they didn’t do walking away ,,, pay yer bills you manky lot.
blue knights walk away .Thought they didnt do walking away,ha ha ha ha ha .
The fans choice & they can’t lodge 500k. It says a lot about rankers fans, all the years of Moonbeams & his lies has prepared them to believe everything they are told.
Ng talking about winning a European trophy, oh no i hope he doesn’t get control, hehe
MURRAY is a name that will definitely be a huge part of the final History of this club.Both have let the club down .David Murray and Paul Murray are by SFA definition(2004) people who cannot own or be a Director of Rangers(both are not fit and proper persons).One destroyed the club,the other pretended that he was the saviour of the club.Paul Murray must think everybody is as stupid as the lackey media and Rangers fans .Shame on the two of you