Hearts administrator Trevor Birch has admitted that the newco route is under consideration.
While a stream of positive soundbites flow out of Tynecastle it’s highly unlikely that a CVA will be approved by 75% of debtors.
The bulk of the club’s £25m debt is owed to UBIG and Ukio Bankas who are unlikely to approve a pennies in the pounds deal when they have security over Tynecastle.
As a housing development or renting the stadium to a football club Tynecastle is a prized asset forcing BDO to consider what options to take if a CVA falls through.
Last year Rangers newco were given the red carpet treatment by the SFA as they were welcomed into the SFL without any of the conditions applied to clubs like Annan Athletic and Peterhead.
Looking at that option Bitch said: “If we cannot get the shares (from UBIG) then we have to start thinking: ‘is there another way of doing it?
“That might mean, of course, the Rangers way. They set up a newco because they could not do a CVA because of HMRC But that took them out of the league, so there is a precedent there.
“You try and avoid that at all costs, whether the SPFL and the SFA would treat us the same way, I don’t know.”
Having set a precedent last summer it would be difficult for the SFA to do anything other than gift Hearts newco a place in the SPFL.
Should the Gorgie mob agree a friendly sale of Tynecastle it will open the door to other heavily indebted clubs like Kilmarnock and Aberdeen to take the newco route by ditching their debt and starting up afresh.
With the help and support of the SFA a three or four year exile from the top flight will become more and more attractive than attempting to service multi million pound debt repayments.
I said all along that the Sevco “newco” route set a precedent for others to follow. In Hearts case they still need to find a corrupt administrator who will sell Tynecastle off on the cheap to the “newco” thereby not acting in the interest of the creditors as they are legally bound to do, but once again, since Duff & Phelps set a precedent to act out with the law, it is obvious other teams will follow suit. It could be argued Scotland is the most corrupt fraudulent football federation on the planet, but when teams fail to pay millions of pounds worth of bills and get away with it by merely declaring themselves a “newco” with the same name, badge, strip etc. Scotland’s football federation will be seen clearly in the eyes of the world for what they truly are.
I don’t understand the Hearts situation. Wasn’t it these Ukranian banks, who are now on the verge of liquidation, that caused all the problems in the first place? Hearts didn’t twist their arms to lend them money. And I don’t see how Hearts being liquidated will help them now? Or do banks and bankers always get special treatment?
As for the SFA, nothing it does would surprise me. It’s an abject failure as an organisation and should have been gutted and rebuilt years ago. Why the other Scottish clubs don’t bring down Ogilvie and his cronies is beyond me. They’re either too weak or just as corrupt as the SFA.
Tim u obviously don’t know what your talking about!! And the reporter is living in hope!! That ain’t happening ye bulb
I have said this all along throughout the Sevco saga, but where is the disincentive for teams to stop them going into financial trouble? Apart from losing history and becoming a total shambles.
If it really was as simple as all of that then why don’t Celtic go mental with money in an all-out assault on European glory, and if we end up in the bottom tier of Scottish football as a result then so be it. Isn’t this the way it works? Acoording to your average dumb Sevvie, yes!
The land at Tyncastle im sure Murray Estates keeping an eye on this story. Previously Hearts they where offered a 25 thousand seater, with SDM and his £1bn Garden District vision. Im sure as part of that plan Hearts where to share the newly built stadium with Edinburgh Rugby club.
The rugby club are still being linked with playing in this new stadium being built in this Garden District project I believe, so if Hearts lose Tyncastle im sure that will strengthing Murray Estate’s hand in getting this project moving.