Rangers owner confirms Ticketus deal
Rangers owner Craig Whyte has admitted to using money from the sale of future season ticket income to complete his takeover of the debt-ridden club.
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) champion entered administration last week after failing to pay off a multi-million pound tax and VAT bill to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It was reported earlier this month that Whyte had borrowed up to £24 million against four years of future season ticket revenue from the Ticketus agency. Rangers’ administrators Duff and Phelps had admitted that the controversial agreement had provoked “widespread concern”. Whyte on Tuesday moved to clarify that Ticketus had paid £20 million in return for ticket revenues over the next three seasons – funds that allowed the Rangers chairman to complete his takeover in May 2011. Administrator David Whitehouse said that £18 million was subsequently transferred to the Lloyds Banking Group, which was owed money when Whyte bought Sir David Murray’s majority stake in Rangers.
“The application of the remainder of these proceeds is subject to further examination,” Whitehouse stated. He added: “We are now investigating all the circumstances surrounding both the purchase of the majority shareholding in Rangers Football Club plc and the flow of funds which stemmed from the transaction and were intended to fulfil the purchasers’ obligations at the time of the sale.” Whyte has denied that he was attempting to make a “fast buck” out of Rangers, adding he was personally “on the line” for a total of “£27.5 million in guarantees and cash in relation to the Ticketus deal”. Whyte said: “By any stretch of the imagination that is a very substantial commitment to the football club of which I have been a supporter since I was a boy and dearly wish to see through this crisis so that Rangers emerge as a financially fitter and stronger institution. I am the biggest stake-holder in Rangers and I face huge financial losses personally if the restructuring fails or is not allowed to proceed.”
Looking forward, Whyte stated he would not remain as Rangers chairman following any restructuring by the club’s administrators. He added that he would give “immediate consideration” to gifting the majority of his shares to a supporters’ foundation should he remain in control of Rangers after administration.
