Leeds could face liquidation

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Inland Revenue to contest Leeds

Leeds have been dealt a massive blow as they look to rebuild for the coming season, after the Inland Revenue confirmed they would be challenging chairman Ken Bates' takeover deal and creditor agreement.

A deadline was put into place for 4pm on Tuesday afternoon, and if no challenge was made at this point, The Whites were free to commence trading and begin preparing their new squad, after relegation from the Championship.

Club creditors originally accepted Bates' 1p-in-the-pound offer to pay back owed monies, which was later renegotiated to 8p-in-the-pound, but the new deal has, as feared by the Leeds faithful, been challenged.

The news may come of dramatic consequence to the League One side, who, according to Bates, may be forced into liquidation, which would eventually see the Elland Road side fold.

The Inland Revenue were left disappointed by the Creditors' Voluntary Agreement (CVA), and now appear to be taking their case beyond Tuesday's deadline.

A statement on the club website read: "The club can confirm that the Inland Revenue have served notice of their intentions to challenge the CVA.

"We do not have all the details yet and do have a number of options available to us.

"We remain confident of a positive outcome despite this disappointing news and will carry on with business as usual in the meantime."

A previous statement on the club website warned that if an appeal was made by the Inland Revenue, the matter could be decided in court, which potentially would increase the duration of the matter by a number of months.

The Whites are unable to sell or purchase players amid the challenge, which has halted any potential deals the club were involved in.

Source: Skysports

[skeeta]

Three cheers to the Revenue.

(not something I say every day)

Do people actually believe that the "major creditors" are not affilated with Bates?

[mr.watford]

This merits its own thread I think..

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Good call, mr. watford.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Bates makes legal threat

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates says he will take legal action if the club is sold to a rival bidder.

He also believes he has the best interests of the club at heart and the means to take the team forward.

Leeds' administrators KPMG put the club up for sale on Friday after Bates' buy-back deal was challenged in the High Court by the Inland Revenue.

KPMG have set a deadline of 5pm on Monday to receive offers for the club with two consortia, who have already lodged separate bids, believed to be holding talks about joining forces and mounting a 'super-bid'.

But Bates has warned he will not go out without a fight and confirmed he had re-submitted his offer for the club.

"Our bid is the original deal that was done in the meeting of creditors when we placed the Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) on June 1," he told Yorkshire Radio.

"We have amended it twice to try and meet the Inland Revenue's objections and now we've withdrawn the conditionality of it, so it's now unconditional."

Bates insists the threat of bankruptcy still hangs over Elland Road and that administrators KPMG could be forced to close the club down if nobody steps forward to pay the day-to-day running costs.

And he claims rivals bidders, local property developer Simon Morris and London-based Redbus Group headed by Simon Franks, had made offers they could struggle to meet.

Former Hull chairman Adam Pearson, a director at Elland Road until 2001, and internet entrepreneur Pete Wilkinson are also rumoured to be poised to make a move for the club.

Bates said: "We believe, in fact, our offer is valid. Therefore it should be the only one to be accepted.

"So there's a problem and a possibility that if the administrator goes down another route then there could be further legal battles.

"After all, we haven't come all this way over the last two-and-half years, borrowed and spent all that money, got the club turned round, got rid of all the bad organisation that the previous regimes left in place to go out without a fight.

"We honestly believe we have the future of the club at heart and it can go forward under our stewardship."

The Inland Revenue are owed £7.7million by Leeds, who have total debts in excess of £35million.

Under the terms of Bates' initial 1p-in-the-pound buy-back deal the Inland Revenue were set to receive just £77,000.

Bates increased his offer to 8p in the pound, but his last-ditch offer to head off the Inland Revenue's legal challenge proved in vain.

Bates added: "At the moment it's a very unhappy situation, it's unnecessary. At the moment we are precluded from signing players. We're just in limbo.

He added: "It must all be very worrying for the fans and it's very worrying for the staff. They're just ordinary people wondering if they've got a job or not.

"If it's not funded by someone the administrators will have to close the club down because they're not allowed to, if you like, trade and borrow money, so the answer would be bankruptcy."

Former Leeds chairman Gerald Krasner, an expert in insolvency law, believes the successful bid for the club would be between £10 and £15million.

Krasner said: "Whoever buys it will have a club free of debt apart from football debt and therefore I think we'd be talking £5million-plus.

"We're not in the Premier League any more and there needs to be a lot of internal investment.

"This is money for the creditors left behind rather than buying the club. The club will need funding for the season which is probably £10-15million."

Source: Skysports

[Budgiebasher]

I believe Alan Lee should be knighted for what he's caused 8)

[Mighty T.A.L.]

'Superbid' threat to Bates

Ken Bates' hold on Leeds United was under severe pressure last night from a "superbid" launched by two rivals to snatch control of the ailing club.

Simon Franks, head of the Redbus investment group, linked up with property developer Simon Morris — a member of the Leeds board who sold the club to Bates in 2005 — to pose a major threat to the chairman's £2.8million bid to buy back the club from administrators KPMG.

KPMG's Richard Fleming and his team will decide today whether Bates retains the troubled Elland Road club, who went into administration in May to confirm their relegation to League One.

The Redbus bid was "substantially" lower than the one originally rejected last month when Bates' offer of 1p in the pound was controversially accepted by a majority of creditors owed £35m.

But Franks insisted it was still higher than the last offer tabled by Bates of 8p in the pound, which failed to head off HM Revenue and Customs, who were chasing Leeds for a debt of £7.7m.

It was unclear whether former Hull chairman Adam Pearson, a former Leeds director, had tabled a late bid. Franks said: "Some of my guys begged me to walk away. What we are doing is verging on reckless, but Leeds United are such a great club it's worth taking the risk.

"We are not on a level playing field. We need to know if we will be able to honour season tickets to fans. We have bid a substantially reduced amount to take in the known unknowns, as it were."

There is also uncertainty over who would be entitled to an estimated £4.4m of season-ticket money should Bates, who has paid running costs since May, fail to win approval today.

Bates and KPMG differ over who is responsible for the cash.

Source: The Daily Mail

[red pisces]

Leeds' administrators KPMG have delayed their decision on who will take control at Elland Road.

KPMG had set a deadline of noon on Tuesday for interested parties to show proof of funds following Monday's 5pm deadline for the submitting of offers.

KPMG adminstrator Richard Fleming said: "We are continuing to evaluate the expressions of interest received and will make a further announcement in due course.

"We appreciate that there is a great deal of interest in the outcome and will take our decision in the best interests of creditors to ensure the best future for the club."

Football365.com - ANNOUNCEMENT DELAYED FOR LEEDS - All The News - Football365 News

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Bates retains Leeds control

Ken Bates remains at the helm of League One outfit Leeds United after winning a second race to buy the club.

Administrators KPMG LLP have confirmed the beleaguered club have been sold to Bates' consortium for an undisclosed sum.

Bates has beaten off competition from a joint-bid consisting of Simon Franks and Simon Morris along with former Hull City owner Adam Pearson.

Former Chelsea supremo Bates originally won control of the club last month, but KPMG put the club up for sale again last week after Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs ('HMRC') issued a challenge to the CVA which had been approved by creditors.

Following yet another round of bidding for the fallen giants, Bates is now back at the helm after submitting an improved offer to creditors.

Joint administrator Richard Fleming told the club's official website: "We received several offers for the business which we considered carefully.

"The approved deal represents the best result for creditors in the circumstances and we believe provides the club with the best chance of survival.

"We understand this has been a difficult time for all those concerned about Leeds. This deal is a necessary step if the club is to have a chance of playing in League One."

Leeds fans will now be hoping all the off-field drama which has plagued the club this summer has ended and Dennis Wise and co can start building for life in League One.

Source: Skysports

[skeeta]

I continue to be shocked at KMPG's behaviour in all of this; they may be an LLP and the audit and other partners may not feel they have their houses at stake, but their reputation is certainly taking a beating.