Lloyds Bank to write off Killie debt

[ian1964 10,720]

From BBC website:

 

Kilmarnock close to major debt reduction deal

By Richard Wilson and Jim Spence

BBC Scotland Kilmarnock are set to announce a deal that will see the majority of the club's £9.4m debt written off by Lloyds Bank.

 

The agreement would involve the chairman Michael Johnston retaining a reduced shareholding in the club.

 

A company headed by local businessman Billy Bowie would take ownership of the hotel, which has been valued at around £2.5m.

 

Johnston and Bowie would also be joined on the board by three new directors.

 

Kilmarnock would be left essentially debt free, while the company that takes ownership of the hotel adjacent to the stadium would take on the remainder of the bank debt, thought to be between £2.5m and £3m.

 

Negotiations have been ongoing for weeks, and became more pressing after the Kilmarnock Futures Consortium - a group of local businessmen - pulled out of takeover talks.

 

It is understood that Bowie will provide an injection of working capital to sustain the club until season tickets are sold later in the year. The three new directors are also likely to provide additional funding, once they have been voted onto the board.

 

Clauses are thought to be included in the agreement that would prevent individuals benefitting from the sale of assets in the future, which would effectively secure the long-term future of the likes of Rugby Park for the Kilmarnock community. Some of the forthcoming investment in the club would, though, be required for stadium maintenance work.

 

The deal would free Kilmarnock from the burden of meeting the repayments on a large debt, but the club would also lose the revenue stream from the hotel, which is a profit-making business.

 

Johnston has stressed at previous annual general meetings the importance of that revenue stream to the club. However the debt, which was accrued in the building of the hotel, was holding Kilmarnock back.

 

Some supporters will remain opposed to Johnston's continuing involvement, and will remain committed to the Not A Penny More campaign that was launched in a bid to oust the chairman. Other fans, though, will accept that a deal had to be struck and one of the consequences is that Johnston is no longer the sole authority at the club and that the board has been opened up to new directors.

 

The Kilmarnock sponsors, QTS, will also continue to back the club in a kit sponsorship deal worth around £250,000.

 

Alan McLeish, the owner of QTS, was a member of the Kilmarnock Futures Consortium that withdrew from takeover talks with Johnston, but he remains committed to financially backing the club.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Conspiracy!

 

Though I don't recall such leniency given to us.

[RANGERRAB 3,613]

Conspiracy!

 

Though I don't recall such leniency given to us.

 

Our problem was not bank debt. We have had no bank debt since Whyte took over the oldco & have no bank debt in the newco that I am aware of.

Our problem in the oldco was LBG's Scottish business division whilst SDM was still owner i.e. they seemed more concerned about Rangers £18m debt than the £700m MIH debt.Why was that I wonder? Nothing to do with the allegiances of Manus Joseph Fullerton and Archibald Gerrard Kane I'm quite sure........