Rangers takeover: Bill Miller plan is doomsday scenario which triggers three-year Euro ban

THE tortured tale of the sale of Rangers took another twist yesterday when Paul Clark, co-administrator at Ibrox, contradicted the supposed front-runner in the bidding process, Bill Miller, on a significant detail of the American’s gameplan.

In his lengthy statement on Friday, Miller stated unequivocally that he would not proceed unless he got guarantees from the SFA and the SPL that no further punishment would be visited upon Rangers for the sins of past administrations. “My offer is contingent upon the regulatory bodies agreeing that the club will begin the 2012-13 season in the SPL and will do so without any loss of points and with all historic titles intact,” said Miller. “I will not acquire the club unless I receive written assurances from both regulatory bodies to this effect.”

Clark has now played down Miller’s demands. “The prospect of it being no [punishment] measures is I think nil, it’s not going to happen is it?” he stated. “But having the parameters of what those measures look like is what he is seeking. I think they are close to agreement.”

Written assurances, says Miller. Parameters, says Clark. The confusion is typical of this vexed business. “What he has actually been doing is speaking to the SFA and SPL,” Clark added. “Some of those discussions we have been involved in, some of them we haven’t. I can’t tell you precisely what he’s now doing, even though I do know, but he’s pretty close to getting [an agreement with the football authorities]. He’s used words like guarantee, I think ‘comfort’ would be a better word. One could liken it to parameters of the measures they could take. I think they are very close if they are not already at that position. They are very close with discussions.”

The detail of any guarantees or comforts will be fascinating to hear. The SFA and the SPL will know that the eyes of Scottish football are upon them now. Clark sought to clarify some of the detail of Miller’s bid, confirming that Rangers are now staring down the barrel of a new company/incubator/liquidation and that there is in all probability a three-year ban from European competition imminent should Miller’s bid be accepted. There is, though, a long way to go before that happens.

“I think we need to split his [Miller’s] statement at this point into two parts,” said Clark. “The first part he is making it clear he would be making an asset sale. The football club would move into a newco entity, of that there should be no doubt.

“There would be a newco that would continue to run the football club. The idea then would be, because of what appears to be wrongdoing that has occurred within Rangers, those wrongs can be righted and then at a later date he would go through a CVA bringing the old company back to the new company. Make no mistake, his bid is predicated on there being a new company that owns, runs and operates Rangers football club.”

From a Rangers fans perspective, this is the doomsday scenario. A newco is precisely what they are fighting to avoid.

“[On Europe], that’s a discussion, but I think that [a three-year ban] would have to be the starting point assumption. I think that’s a different discussion with SFA and UEFA. I certainly haven’t been involved in a discussion with Miller that would lessen that three years.”

In all of this, it is still hard to avoid the possibility – or perhaps, probability – that Duff & Phelps are holding out for the re-emergence of the Blue Knights, possibly with Brian Kennedy in tow. It is believed that the Knights and Kennedy are now exploring things together and may come back into the picture having left it abruptly last week. Clark spoke to Kennedy on Friday. “It’s fair to say they are still around. I had discussions with Paul Murray and various others on Friday and some of those discussions went into the evening. I have made it clear that I am ready, willing and able to speak on the weekend. Certainly, if they still have a desire to move forward, we have made it clear they have to do that now and with no more delay. We are happy to work with them to put them back in place, if that’s what they choose.

“Until nine or ten days ago, we had put the Blue Knights consortium in pole position. We hadn’t accepted them as preferred bidder but we had pretty much told them that was their position. Then within 24 hours of us having that conversation with them…

“The withdrawal of the financial commitment was by Ticketus rather than the Blue Knights. They withdrew their financial commitment to pay the exclusivity fee and that was a real setback, it was a real move from their position because we had made it clear we needed that financial commitment.”

The financial wherewithal of the Knights is still an unknown, even this late in the process. Question marks remain as to how much cash they actually have and is it anywhere close to being enough. They are now beyond the point of cheap statements of intent and need to deliver something of substance.

Clark also had something to say about their on-off business partners, Ticketus, and the challenge of separating Craig Whyte from his shareholding in the club.

“Ticketus have always told us they have the ability to get Craig Whyte’s shares. They said ‘You don’t need to do anything with Duff & Phelps, we’ll deal with it’. There are other bids, in the first instance the Miller bid, that don’t need the Craig Whyte shares because it’s an asset deal. There are also opportunities as Miller has alluded where a type of structure could be put in place where the obtaining of the shares is not essential. It’s fair to say Ticketus have been robust on the position of the Craig Whyte shares.”