The takeover bid for Rangers by Craig Whyte has hit serious trouble with the Scottish businessman threatening to walk away from the deal. The independent commitee on the Rangers board is apparently not prepared to give the green light for the deal to go ahead immediately but want to wait until after then end of the season.
The takeover bid for Rangers by Craig Whyte has hit serious trouble with the Scottish businessman threatening to walk away from the deal. The independent commitee on the Rangers board is apparently not prepared to give the green light for the deal to go ahead immediately but want to wait until after then end of the season.
It is not quite clear why the independent board wants to delay the deal. One view is that this is simply a snag, while others think there is a danger of the deal falling through. The venture capitalist first made his bid, estimated at £33m, last November. Protracted negotiations then followed with Lloyds Bank, the major creditor believed to be owed £21m. However, an agreement was reached with them.
It is thought that there is a very short time for the deal to go through. The takeover has already cost Whyte £500,000 in fees as part of the due diligence process and taken up five months of his time. His patience is thought to be running out. A budget needs to be provided for Ally McCoist who will replace Walter Smith as Rangers manager in the summer.
Whyte could simply buy the club and install his own board but this would take at least 28 days and would create an awkward situation which would not represent the best of starts for the new owners. The plan is that Whyte will take over 75 per cent of Sir David Murray’s shareholding with London-based property developer Andrew Ellis becoming a 25 per cent partner.