U.S bidder Miller sets out Rangers strategy
Reuters - Friday 20 April 2012, 14:53
American Bill Miller set out
plans on Friday to rescue stricken Scottish football club Rangers
after a Singapore consortium pulled out of the bidding for one
of the most famous teams in the British game.
Miller, who heads a tow-truck company in Tennessee, plans an
11.2 million-pound bid for Rangers which would
create what he described as an "incubator" company while the
administrators reached agreement with the club's creditors,
local media reported.
Miller said he would suspend his offer until Monday to allow
other bidders to "put up or shut up".
Singapore businessman Bill Ng withdrew from the race earlier
on Friday in the latest blow to administrators seeking to rescue
the debt-laden Glasgow club.
In a statement carried on the Straits Times website, Ng said
his five-man consortium had become "increasingly frustrated with
the process of dealing with the club administrators".
However, the report added that he could relaunch his bid if
administrators Duff and Phelps failed to reach a deal with other
potential bidders.
Rangers, Scottish champions a record 54 times, went into
administration in February over unpaid tax bills. They suffered
a 10-point penalty and have recently lost their league title to
Glasgow rivals Celtic.
The Blue Knights consortium led by former Rangers director
Paul Murray withdrew from the bidding this week. However,
reports have said they would be ready to revive their interest.
Brian Kennedy, a Scottish businessman who owns English rugby
club Sale Sharks, has made a verbal offer.
Miller portrayed his proposal of a way of preserving the
140-year-old club rather than it having to be liquidated and
potentially restart life at the bottom of the Scottish game.
There are a number of issues complicating efforts to rescue
Rangers. The club owes around nine million pounds in unpaid taxes and faces a much larger potential liability in
another tax dispute dating back over a decade.
Craig Whyte, who bought an 85 percent stake in the club a
year ago for a nominal one pound, also raised more than 20 million
pounds against future season ticket sales in a deal with a
company called Ticketus.
The Scottish Premier League is also meeting at the end of
the month to decide if clubs which go insolvent and are then
reformed should be docked points in future seasons.