Foundation of Hearts in pole position to complete takeover deal with 5pm deadline looming

Alan Marshall

25 Jul 2013 10:43

ADMINISTRATORS BDO have set a deadline for this evening with ex-Livingston chairman Angelo Massone and businessman Bob Jamieson still in the hunt to buy the club.

THE Foundation of Hearts are in pole position to take over the club after they were the only party to meet yesterday’s 5pm bid deadline.

The fans’ group submitted an improved offer to administrators BDO as well as proof of funding.

Joint-administrator Bryan Jackson confirmed he had received one amended offer out of the three groups that made opening bids earlier this month.

The remaining two, ex-Livingston chairman Angelo Massone’s Five Stars Football Limited and HMFC Limited, which has business-man Bob Jamieson as it’s sole director, told Jackson their revised offers would be submitted after the deadline.

BDO set 5pm yesterday as the cut-off for amended bids and proof of funding. Failure of the two groups to make the target time will cast doubt over their attempts to be named preferred bidder.

Jackson said: “We received an amended offer and proof of funding from one of the bidders by the 5pm deadline

“What happens now is any bids received will be sent to Lithuania and we can move towards appointing a preferred bidder, hopefully within a couple of weeks.”

After reviewing the three bids that had previously been submitted, Jackson admitted none of the financial packages were satisfactory.

With that in mind, the FOH yesterday lodged an offer in excess of the initial £2million they had tabled for a CVA, and have told BDO they will have around £3.75m for the day-to-day running of the club.

They are confident they can satisfy the administrator’s proof of funds request.

In a TV interview yesterday prior to the deadline, Jackson said ‘one or two bidders could fall away’.

Former club sponsor Jamieson is behind HMFC Ltd’s bid and has American investment company Club 9 Sports sourcing finance for a new stadium.

Speaking yesterday, he said: “We will be submitting an increased bid which should speed up the appointment of a preferred bidder.”

Angelo Massone Massone angered fans during his spell at Livingston

Little is known of Italian lawyer Massone’s bid.

Rumours that he had joined forces with Gordon McKie, whose consortium backed out, were denied by the former Scottish Rugby Union chief executive.

Reaching a CVA compromise with the club’s creditors remains a significant obstacle but Jackson insists the level of money available for the day-to-day operations of the club is also a big factor.

Hearts owe Lithuanian companies Ukio Bankas, which is in administration, and UBIG, which is set to be declared insolvent, a total of £25m.

Former owner Vladimir Romanov’s bank controlled 29.9 per cent of Hearts’ shares, while UBIG held 50 per cent.

Jackson added: “The CVA is the amount we need to offer creditors to try and get them to compromise on the debt. In this case it’s the bank in Lithuania.”

Speaking to STV, he added: “Working capital is going to be the requirement for anybody taking over the club. There is a huge gap for the rest of the season because of the 7000 season tickets that were sold. That money has already gone.

“That’s a massive gap they need to fill. They also need to find some post-administration money as they need to pay things like football debt and there is a huge amount needed for working capital.

“It’s not always the offer to the creditors, it’s the money you’re going to need to then operate the club.”

Taken from the Daily Record