Big creditor’s green light for debt deal boosts Hearts

THE administrators of Hearts have said that the club is ready to begin exiting administration after a major creditor gave the go-ahead.

The Tynecastle Club has been unable to escape administration while a question mark hung over the future of 50 per cent stakeholder UBIG, which itself is declared bankrupt.

But administrators BDO announced yesterday that Lithuania-based Ukio Bankas has given permission to start the process of negotiating a Company Voluntary Agreement with the club’s creditors, which will allow the fan’s rescue bid to proceed.

Bryan Jackson, BDO business restructuring partner, explained: “This is positive news as it means that we can progress the CVA process immediately by initiating meetings of the creditors and shareholders. We will also be able to begin the formal acceptance of the Foundation of Hearts bid and legally agree terms.”

He warned, however, that while the move was a “a further step in the right direction” there were still “a number of issues to be clarified and concerns addressed”.

Gintaras Adomonis, the administrator now running Ukio Bankas’ operations, added: “The zeal and tenacity of the fans have persuaded us that the process of CVA should be launched as soon as possible by the administrators of Heart of Midlothian FC.

“We are still far away from the end of the legal process which we all shall endure, but this is a step forward nevertheless.”

Mr Jackson appealed to fans to continue their backing: “Although I am sure the fans are sick of hearing this, I cannot stress enough how important it is that they continue their extraordinary support for their club. The fans, the staff, the players, the management and the FoH have all been outstanding over the last few months in keeping the club going but it needs to carry on. We still need to keep fans coming to matches, and money flowing through the club to ensure that we have sufficient funds to push the CVA process forward.”