As ever, I’m grateful to Rugger Guy for giving me his expert assessment of a financial matter and at very short notice.
I asked him to peruse this document that had been brought to my attention.
It appeared to my untrained eye to represent a material change in the circumstance apropos the deal between Sevco and Close Brothers.
However, I needed the opinion of a qualified professional.
So here it is:
Phil, further to your indication that some more documentation had been filed at Companies House on Rangers and Close, I have checked up on this.
The review is very interesting indeed. The standard security over the car park and Edmonton house were signed on 12 February. On 16 February a further document was signed which creates a floating charge on four other assets of Rangers. The stadium catering equipment £1.567m, the stadium PA system £556k, stadium Wi-Fi system, £675k and the stadium bowl screens £432k.
In total this floating charge represents a further value of charges of over £3.2m.
My interpretation is that Close has succeeded in getting further charges over other assets and ties in neatly with my assertion of how ruthless Close is in securing total control when a loan has been given.
The full details of the assets and back up details start on page 23 of the newly filed document.
After I received this paragraph I called Rugger Guy and I asked him if it was fair to say that, after reading this document, his view was that Close Brothers had sunk their hooks in a bit deeper.
He concurred with my characterisation of the situation.
That will do for me.
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Lol at the bennys on follow follow .Shouting on Aberdeen saying they hate them more than us but want them to beat us the dafties need to make up their minds lol. Then you have Bamber from (university challenge ) sorry lol at ibrox noise saying they have the best midfielder in Scotland names 3 but shouts on 1 this guy must hang about with coco the clown with the laughs he gives us with the shite he spews out .
I wouldn’t set the jelly yet. My take on this is that they don’t have enough money to keep the lights on until the end of the season. Quelle surprise.
The chairman won’t ante up, so no surprise there either. Therefore they need a cash injection, which they have now obtained from an HP company, secured against some assets. So they now CAN see out the season, and keep the lights on until the ST cash comes in at which point they pay off the loan.
Their problem of course is that their budget for next season is £4M down before a ball is kicked, but at the moment they are more in need of kicking a can down the road and surviving than building for the future.
The push may eventually come to the shove but not for a wee while yet, I think.
Listen to yourself ffs. How many times have we heard this rubbish ? give your brain a holiday you sad fuck.
We turned down £11m for Morelos ya gimp.
Excellent stuff Phil. Rugger Guy is without , the dogs! Succinct and to the point.
The Sevconians will all have their kecks on their heads crayons up their nostrils, they’ve not advanced yet for pencils, wandering around shouting “dwibble dwibble dwibble “
An Orc dies and , what do you expect, is sent straight straight to Dante’s Inferno. In one of the rings he sees a huge pit full to the brim with faeces with about 50000 fellow orcs wearing their scarves and smoking huge Cuban cigars only up to their necks keech.
“I could cope with that “ thinks yer man.
Suddenly a voice booms out,”Break over . Heads down!”
I’ll get my hat and coat
I ‘ve no idea of how shady business operates, but it looks to me as these assets are possibly being put out of the reach of future Administrators /Liquidators.
Third Ragers seems inevitable and the ducks are being li ed up to deliberately shaft creditors.
I think something’s up too.
Do we know if the ‘overdraft’ has remained at £3m or its it £6.2m with the inclusion of these assets?
The 6.2m is the “book value” cost on paper, not the real value you would get if you tried to flog them.
It’s also common for distressed lenders to get 2x the loan value pledged as collateral as insurance, if you will. Either, they’ve covered themselves against any potential default.
Are the assets being put into one basket so that they are easier to get hold of after a controlled administration like Charly Chuckles managed with duff and duffer
I’m interested in the fixed charge/floating charge difference. Isn’t there a distinction in the order of preference of creditors should there be an adminsrration event?
Does this additional security mean Rankers have borrowed further monies over the original £3million secured against edmondson house and car park or is this additional security for the same loan?
Boycott of Close Brothers coming up.
Pray for them!
Pray for them my arse unless is to pray they are going to get fkd worse still HH
I DO feel a bit of envy for ‘Rugger Guy’. He will be off to follow his country in a World Cup next year …. While those of us favouring the spherical based game have just gone back in time 20 years. Another 20 years of non-participation to come presumably.
Hi Phil,
After reading what you and Rugger Guy has to say it appears to me that Close Brothers are like a pawn shop where you can bring assets along and you receive money for them. What a sad state of affairs.
Thats a fair assesment. I was involved in a buisness where assets ie machinery could be borrowed against. So a buisness would buyba mChine twice . They charge high butnif loans are paid off before agreed date they drop thier fee .
To still higher than a bank
They really should just cash in on Moreles. Must be a tough decision take the money now or keep him to try and get closer to Celtic… Snigger!!!
The real snigger factor is that the majority of ‘ra bearz’ are actually thinking this!
Oh ya they just get Dumber and Dumber day by day.
Phil one more thought as Close have securitised everything except IBrokes itself . does this suggest they can’t pawn Ibrokes.
The People would not allow that, so it’s an easy cover as to explaining who actually has ‘ra deeds’.
Having control of the car park is the stranglehold in this. Without access, IBrokes can’t operate and effectively becomes a redundant space . Who needs catering and wifi when there’s nobody there to use it?
Close Bros plan B should Ticketus spring up with Sevco5088 title claim.
They haven’t gone away you know.
Close by name, closer by actions.
This lot are baw-deep into Sevco’s Crown Jewels.
Long and deep may it last.
Lovely turn of phrase there, Joe.
No doubt The Daily Radar or Chris Jack of ET fame will have this story splashed all over their rags as an exclusive.
Oh dear Mr Robertson, the Wifi system, catering equipment, the sound system, the big tellies, all in hock to your new ‘investors.’
Yet you claim the financial position to be secure……. Clearly you meant secured against assets?
It would appear that the Wifi legal thingy must have been settled out of court allowing these assets to be pledged as security to those lovely chaps at Close Bros.
Perhaps Robbo was telling the truth when he said that Close had actually approached them and not the other way around.
No doubt they saw an opportunity to make money at no risk so it’s just business.
However if it all ends in tears they may have under estimated the backlash coming their way.
Keep your friends close and your Close Brothers closer.
A floating charge you say?
Tips crystallisation for Alistair (Johnston) & Co.
question : was this filed late or has something changed i.e was it part of the original deal or has something happened at Ibrokes to trigger this?
The Wifi bill MUST have been settled out of court then surely? No mention of any Ibrox related company on the Installers website despite an extensive list of past customers. I can believe the GASL would be bold enough to pawn WIFI he hasn’t paid for but don’t believe Close would miss that one?
Very interesting that the original WIfi cost was £900,000 + VAT, but in December 2104 there was a credit note for a mere £225,000!. so someone got 30% off the bill.
even more interesting there was a hand written note on one of them saying that when the wifi is stable they need to finance the deal.
The payback for the catering equipment is a profit if £550,000 for a sum of £1.5MM over 4 years. That’s a pretty hefty interest rate right there if no other costs were incurred (maintenance etc).
WOW. I mean WOW.
This mob are in deeper dung than I ever thought and yet the gullibillies are still paying for the lovely bonuses. Oh how I would love to fail at my job of running a football club and get weighed-in with a bonus.
The ‘Loan Rangers’ limp on but the lights will be turned off soon and hopefully for good. Tic Toc. HH
This is truly magnificent work Phil.
I hope Rugger Guy is a hardened drinker as we all owe him a few pints at least.
Perhaps we could even change his mind about his preferred sport of Wrestling over an Egg!
The SMSM must be absolutely livid they’re not allowed to print this stuff or talk about it as they know it would sell copy in 10’s of 1000’s and create great debate on their blue tainted phone-ins!
Pass thanks on to the Egg Wrestler please.
On page 30 of the pdf it would seem that Close Leasing were responsible for the original hire purchase agreement of the catering equipment from 2012 to “Sevco Scotland ” scored out. So have Close been in the shadows all along?
Oh Dear. When you sup with the devil best to use a long spoon. The Merchant of Venice only required a pound of flesh. How come the Bears do not awaken from their slumber and realise the perilous state of their club?
Oh dear…..
Only a matter of time before they get a loan on morelos (a small loan)
Phil
Well done the “Scarily” Close Brothers. However I’m surprised these assets are actually owned by Sevco . In their position it would have made more sense to lease /rent with maintenance contracts in place?
It could be a result of some pesky old contracts that they now own a bunch of depreciating assets with large maintenance costs but something doesn’t smell right in the kitchen.
The noose is tightening….
First they came for the catering equipment, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not involved in catering.
Then they came for the Wi-Fi hub, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not into all that interweb stuff.
Then they came for the big telly, and I did not speak out—
Because I have my ain big telly in the hoose anyway.
Then they came for my giro—because WATP.
The last time fans of an Ibrox club were denied a big telly they destroyed Manchester City Center.
Hope Close Bros have considered the social unrest of any foreclosure
????
Who cares about their social unrest HH
That floating charge seems to state that they previously used Close to finance the provision of the catering outlets at Ibrox and paid for that by monthly payment of just over £350,000 a month (inc VAT) for four years …excluding VAT that payment would be £293,000 a month.( about page 30) did you not constantly ask why a payment of that amount or similar was being made
Basically they have now pawned the stadium catering equipment, the PA system, the big tellies, the perimeter advertising boards and the Wi-fi equipment along with Edmiston House and the car park
But they are financially sound ?
And who was Charlotte Ventures who got £800k for Edmiston House
One of the documents (page 29) is also a bill for £1.5 million paid to a subsidiary of Lloyd’s Bank for what is called the “remunication” of the head lease of the Albion car park …should it read “renunciation”…. have never heard of the other word??
Remunication…… ‘Gift Of God’ is the only meaning I can see of the word.
VAT.? Que ?
Great journalism Phil mate to me just a regular joe it’s looking like glib & co arranged for the first singing on the 12th knowing you and some others would be waiting for companies house to put it in the public domain,however they never banked on yourself and your network to be shrewd enough to catch the proper revelling details in the paper work signed on the 16th! Hats off to you Phil not only do you get great sources you follow through on pieces like proper journalists from days of old and the assessment from Rugger guy is exactly what a regular joe like me needs on mattter like these superb Phil…..our games is lucky to have our internet bampots HH?
They are not called the Close Brothers for nothing…..
Recpect.2 your hard work+telling the truth …the ppl.wont here about that in the media…hh???
Great stuff! Thanks again.
The letter from the new owner of the stadium sound system is a real eye opener. Basically without the system in place the stadium cannot lawfully be used for its prime purpose, I imagine because of safety legislation. Talk about having you by the short and curlies…
Maybe somebody was watching a recent episode of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA, where the sweary chef makes an owner step out onto the sidewalk, and shout to passers-by that they “have home-made meatballs”. I think the wee guy felt humiliated, so how humiliating will it be for “them” when one of the RRM has to step out onto the middle of the pitch, megaphone in hand, to make the stadium announcements?
If anybody produces a fitba show, and calls it “Rangers Football Nightmares WATP”, I will be sueing the arse off them!!
But… Chef Ramsay IS an RRM… Is he not?
Presumably these are the “other assets” and the loan to security ratio now makes sense for a lender of last resort who fully expects to take possession at some point and arrange a quick sale for cash
What are you talking about – it’s an overdraft ?
Don’t know about an overdraft looks like the ship is sinking and everything is being thrown overboard
Yes one part was particularly interesting was the last invoice re Edmiston House was it brought from sir bribe and lie.
HH
Right that’s it, I’m setting the jelly.
Ok, any thoughts (anyone?) as to why Close thought this necessary? Simply increasing security vs loan? Something more nefarious? Was it always foreseen? Is it a swift reaction to a change in circumstance?
Once more – the end is close brothers.
you could ask him why this second document is a floating rather than fixed charge
jonny, that’s a fair point, I understood that a fixed charge was a charge on fixed assets (land, buildings, machinery) while a floating charge was a charge on floating assets such as inventory, accounts receivable etc.
I’d have assumed the catering, wifi and PA equipment would also be treated as fixed assets – so why not a fixed charge on those too?
I wonder if Close Brothers charge a higher interest rate on floating assets, hence their preference.
The fixed charge was over 2 specific assets which, according to the new documentation, were purchased for less than £3m. Edminston House won’t be worth much more now than then if not less. The car park’s main value would be a gun to the head of the stadium in the form of exorbitant fees for permission to use it as a fire assembly point (A condition on use of the club deck.
The floating charge allows a kind of pick and mix across the range. I have to say though that the fittings can only really have gun to head value too as removal and 2nd hand sale of items that in the main are nearly 6 years old won’t realise very much in proceeds.
They “crystallise” on insolvency. The benefit to the Sevco board seems to be that it can continue to peddle the story that there’s no security over “the stadium.” Technically true, but rather, ahem, Jesuitical in the way of equivocation shall we say, for the assets covered make the sacred “unencumbered” stadium operable as a place of business. Imagine the All-England Tennis Club with no catering, no scoreboard, no sound systems, no screens for the folks on Henman’s Hill.
Marvellous, isn’t it!