New delays in payments to companies owed cash by old Rangers

FIRMS that were owed money when The Rangers FC PLC was liquidated in 2012 face fresh delays for repayment as a £16 million cash pot to reimburse them continues to shrink.

The setback relates to a protracted legal action by investment firm Worthington Group plc. The group’s original claim was to secure a £25m payout, but this was replaced in July by a far smaller demand for £3m

The collapse of the former Rangers company, dubbed “oldco”, left thousands of unsecure creditors, including more than 6,000 fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox.

Creditors ranged from giants such as Coca-Cola to a picture framer in Bearsden, near Glasgow, and a lady who runs a face-painting business and was owed £40.

In its latest update, liquidator BDO said it is still considering how the Worthington Group claim impacts on its ability to pay those who lost money.

BDO also cited HMRC’s claim over a disputed £72m – the so-called “Big Tax Case” due to be heard at the Supreme Court next year – as causing issues for working out how much will be paid out to those owed money.

The liquidator had previously indicated it would reimburse creditors by the end of this year. BDO said a well-established £27m claim by Ticketus, which had entered into a ticket purchase agreement involving Rangers, had also complicated the task.

The BDO letter to creditors said: “Once this matter is resolved, we intend to consult with the committee to agree a new scheme of division to allow a first dividend to be declared and paid to unsecured creditors with agreed claims.”

It added: “Due to the significant issues to be resolved in the liquidation, the joint liquidators do not expect to be in a position to bring this case to a conclusion for some considerable time.”

One creditor, who did not want to be identified, said: “We had thought there was some light at the end of the tunnel after the last update, but it seems there is complication after complication and it is high time dividends from this sorry state of affairs were paid.”

A Ticketus spokesman said: “We are not aware we have caused any issues in relation to the capabilities of the administrators to pay a dividend.”