Ticketus Close To Lodging £27m Legal Claim Against Whyte.

[forlanssister 3,114]

BBC Scotland has learned that finance firm Ticketus is soon to lodge a legal claim against Craig Whyte for £27m.

The company loaned Mr Whyte about £24m which helped fund the businessman's takeover of Rangers last May.

 

Ticketus claims he gave personal guarantees for the money.

 

Mr Whyte's finance company, Liberty Capital, which is registered in the British Virgin islands, is expected to be the main focus of the legal action taken by Ticketus.

 

Mr Whyte bought Rangers from former owner Sir David Murray last May for £1, taking over his controlling 85% share holding.

 

It later emerged that he had borrowed about £24m from Ticketus as part of a four-year deal against future season ticket sales.

 

Floating charge

Mr Whyte used part of this money to settle the club's debt to Lloyds Bank - a move Mr Whyte said did not involve making guarantees with Rangers' assets.

 

It is believed that the new owner was assigned the bank's floating charge over Rangers assets - making him secured creditor.

 

That position is disputed, however, by Duff and Phelps, the firm appointed as Rangers administrators in February after the club failed to make tax payments.

 

The administrators have since said that the club's total debt could be up to £134m, including the £27m Ticketus liability and possibly more than £90m to the tax authorities.

 

Mr Whyte's share holding, and uncertainty over his claimed status as secured creditor, are among numerous factors which are complicating attempts to find a buyer for the club and its assets

Edited May 9, 2012 by forlanssister

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Not sure that any such agreement between the club and Whyte would stand up. The guarantee would presumably have to be paid before he could go after Rangers to reimburse him and I doubt that he could do that, although obviously we don't have all of the details.

 

yeah I meant if he paid it. which does seem very very unlikely.

[calscot 0]

I would be surprised if Whyte has the means to pay £27m - well that isn't hidden and unobtainable.

 

I don't have any sympathy at all for Ticketus - if what they did wasn't illegal, IMHO it should be. Perhaps if they get totally shafted, it will help prevent nefarious takeovers of other clubs.

[Bluedell 5,691]

yeah I meant if he paid it. which does seem very very unlikely.

 

Even then, I doubt that he could automatically enforce the FC. Any agreement between the club and whyte to reimburse whyte for his guarantees would be on very shaky ground.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

in fairness rangers probably need to break the deal before they can peruse whyte.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Even then, I doubt that he could automatically enforce the FC. Any agreement between the club and whyte to reimburse whyte for his guarantees would be on very shaky ground.

 

good to hear. cheers bluedell.

[Zappa 0]

How can Ticketus go after Whyte for the reported £27m if they're in our creditors pot? Surely they'd have to remove themselves from our list of creditors because they couldn't legally accept money from our creditors pot as well as taking legal action against Whyte for the full amount?

[Calgacus 8]

Although the CVA would extinguish the Club's liability to Ticketus, the guarantee would allow them to pursue Whyte for the shortfall. The point of a getting a guarantee from a third party is that the third party becomes liable for anything the main debtor fails to pay.

[Guest BrickHands]

I'm still waiting for Whyte to go head to head with the BBC!

 

..it's going to happen, I promise.

[Guest BrickHands]

Can I ask about the payments made to Ticketus, in Duff & Phelp's creditors assessment. Was there not two payments (one in July and one in September), totalling approximately £9million? You never see these figures referred to in the total amount that Whyte owes Ticketus.