Portsmouth Football Club’s debts amount to a staggering £119m. A sum of £14m is due on three transfers and £14m is owed to a secured creditor, former owner Balram Chainrai in the form of loans. There is £90m owed to unsecured creditors, of which £38m is due to three previous owners in the form of loans, £9 million to 15 agents (one is owed £2.3m alone) and £5m to trade creditors. It is difficult to see how a debt of
Portsmouth Football Club’s debts amount to a staggering £119m. A sum of £14m is due on three transfers and £14m is owed to a secured creditor, former owner Balram Chainrai in the form of loans. There is £90m owed to unsecured creditors, of which £38m is due to three previous owners in the form of loans, £9 million to 15 agents (one is owed £2.3m alone) and £5m to trade creditors. It is difficult to see how a debt of this size built up unless the company was trading while insolvent.
Administrator Andrew Andronikou does not think that the size of the debt would put any serious purchaser off as they would have known about it through due diligence. However, the creditors would have to accept any offer from their debt from a prospective buyer. 75 per cent have to agree for there to be a Company Voluntary Arrangement to take the club out of administration. The administrator admitted that the club was no nearer finding a buyer than it was two months ago even though there had been some interest.