Fall of the house of David Murray...

[ian1964 10,721]

...Documents show ex-Ibrox chief's business is now officially dead.

 

MURRAY International Holdings Limited, the firm that owned Rangers, was crippled by debt and ended up owing the bank £200 million.

 

A MULTI-MILLION pound business empire built up by former Rangers owner Sir David Murray is now officially dead.

 

At a meeting in the offices of an accountancy firm in Glasgow, Murray International Holdings Limited – the firm that owned the football club – were buried.

 

Documents published by Companies House outline how joint liquidators John Reid and William Dawson, of Deloittes, put the final nail into the coffin of Murray’s group, which was crippled by debts and ended up owing £200 million to the bank.

 

The liquidators described their final meeting with creditors – mainly the Lloyds Banking Group – as “purely a formality”.

 

 

A statement released on behalf of Murray, 64, said the bank were the only creditors and that he lost equity in the company through his shareholding.

 

It said: “The annual liquidation meeting of the company was held in mid-March.

 

“At that meeting, the motion was passed that as all matters had been finalised, the company would move to dissolution which, effectively, is it ceasing to exist. This happens automatically three months after such a meeting.

 

“We can confirm there were no ordinary creditors other than the bank, who were also substantial shareholders with Sir David Murray. Both lost their equity.”

 

After being asked about new firm Murray Capital, the statement outlined the firm “is a completely stand-alone entity and for the avoidance of any doubt, all transactions were done on a completely professional independently valued arm's length basis”.

 

The formal liquidation of MIH means Murray can leave the bank debt burden behind and focus on his new venture, which returned pre-tax profits of £13.6million after buying assets from the old company.

 

Along with his two sons – David D Murray, 42, and Keith Murray, 39 – and a fourth director, Craig McDermid, he set up Murray Capital Group.

 

Accounts for the defunct MIH show the Murray family bought the majority of a property company, Murray Estates, for £13.9million in 2014. That business is now owned by Murray Capital Group while another firm, Murray Metals, was also acquired from MIH before it closed down.

 

Those assets, along with the sale of a stake in a bus and coach builder, have allowed the Murray family’s new firm to become a major success.

 

The final MIH liquidation document said the sale of those assets to Murray’s new firm, and other asset sales, were “utilised to part-repay the bank loan facility”.

 

But the £13.9million paid for Murray Estates only took off a small chunk off the bank loan and overdraft which, in the last set of accounts for MIH in 2013, was £350million.

 

In 2009, MIH were at their peak and Murray was one of Scotland’s richest men with an estimated personal wealth of £500million.

 

The success of his metals, mining and property businesses – along with the support of the bank – secured huge profits and allowed him to fund lavish spending at Rangers.

 

But the financial crisis in 2009 led to a crippling downturn in business, leaving MIH deep in debt to Lloyds.

 

That crisis forced Murray to strip down, restructure and sell off parts of his empire to try to bring down the debt. He then came under pressure to let Rangers loose from under the wing of MIH.

 

Pre-recession, the company employed about 3000 people and said last year that they had “secured continued employment” for more than 95 per cent of workers.

 

One of the final blows for MIH was the company’s departure from their prestigious base in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square.

 

MIH’s reputation has also been damaged by the ongoing saga over Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) payments, which saw Rangers employees given tax-free loans. They helped the club recruit a string of high-calibre players.

 

Murray benefited to the tune of £6.3million from EBTs which are at the centre of a long-running legal dispute between Rangers’ oldco liquidators and the taxman.

 

The Supreme Court are expected to issue a final ruling on the case this year.

 

Murray was among a group of 63 players and 24 members of staff who received payouts from EBTs.

 

Names on the list including former managers Graeme Souness and Alex McLeish and players Barry Ferguson and Nacho Novo. Many Rangers fans are still angry over Murray’s sale of the club to Craig Whyte in 2011. Less than a year later, Rangers were in administration and then into liquidation.

 

At that time, Murray said he was “bitterly disappointed at the outcome of the administration and saddened at the ongoing uncertainty”.

 

But Craig Houston, of fans group the Sons of Struth, said some supporters will never forgive Murray for the events which unfolded after he sold the club.

 

He said: “There are different schools of thought on David Murray: People who remember nine-in-a-row and can’t see past that or those who will never forgive him for selling to Whyte and blame him solely for that sale.”

 

Writing in the most recent accounts for MIH dated June 30, 2013, Murray said: “Looking back, we continue to profoundly regret selling our majority shareholding in Rangers to Craig Whyte.”

 

Read more at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/fall-house-david-murray-documents-7712050#bCAjeu0FDeg2g1O1.99

[RANGERRAB 3,654]

Strange how after selling Rangers to Whyte in May2011 LBG continued to fund MIH.

[Frankie 8,562]

I'm sure SDM cares little as he relaxes with a glass of red in France.

[pete 2,499]

I'm sure SDM cares little as he relaxes with a glass of red in France.

 

In other words "I doubt he gives a Ckuf" It is all the small companies around him we should feel sorry for.

[der Berliner 3,744]

But Craig Houston, of fans group the Sons of Struth, said some supporters will never forgive Murray for the events which unfolded after he sold the club.

 

He said: “There are different schools of thought on David Murray: People who remember nine-in-a-row and can’t see past that or those who will never forgive him for selling to Whyte and blame him solely for that sale.”

 

Never really understood that Black & White mentality amongst some. For I would assume that many if not most Bears thanked SDM for everything that happened when he took over during Souness' reign, but won't forget what befell us due to the EBTs and the sale to The Charlatan either. One wonders whether we'll ever know how much his hand was forced in selling us. But, what is also continuously overlooked is (and I wonder that the DR actually noted it) ...

 

In 2009, MIH were at their peak and Murray was one of Scotland’s richest men with an estimated personal wealth of £500million.

 

The success of his metals, mining and property businesses – along with the support of the bank – secured huge profits and allowed him to fund lavish spending at Rangers.

 

But the financial crisis in 2009 led to a crippling downturn in business, leaving MIH deep in debt to Lloyds.

 

One can only speculate how we would have fared had the Financial Crisis not hit the world. SDM was already in progress of selling us to someone willing to take us on. But we were running on safer grounds under the helm of Alastair Johnston and that would probably have continued.

 

It is a real sad and dire story, but in the same way that the mhedia goes on about the new and liquidated club rubbish and is castigated on here and elsewhere, we - IMHO - should take all factors into account and if possible keep away from Black & White polarisations.

Edited April 8, 2016 by der Berliner

[Bluedell 5,624]

The dangers of making a basic business mistake of funding long term assets (property) with short term loans.

[RANGERRAB 3,654]

The dangers of making a basic business mistake of funding long term assets (property) with short term loans.

 

can you maybe elaborate for a numpty like me?

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

der Berliner - I am not sure why you persist in sticking up for all those who have brought us significant ill. SDM's influence on our club was cancerous.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Ser Barristan Selmy

[Oleg_Mcnoleg 50]

Chancer, imho of course. Leveraging yourself to buggery and flogging the bejesus out of a high risk tax strategy like EBTs nearly lost us our club.

[Bluedell 5,624]

can you maybe elaborate for a numpty like me?

 

When you buy a house, you expect to live in it for a long time so you finance it by taking a mortgage (over 25 years) rather than funding it by a bank loan or overdraft.

 

What Murray did was buy a lot of business property but finance it with short term loans so he wasn't matching his financing to the assets. When the banking crisis hit, it had 2 implications:

 

1. The bank was less willing to renew the loans and if they did they would charge a premium.

2. Property values fell. The bank would give loans to the value of the property, resulting in a significant negative equity situation.

 

If Murray had financed the property over a longer period of time, MIH could have weathered the storm to a greater extent and wouldn't have the risk of short term property value decreases and short term lack of availability of finance affect the company.

 

26th of Foot always claims Murray was a gambler like his dad, and I think that it's proven here. He took massive risks and it resulted in the downfall of MIH.