Rangers administrator Paul Clark is pleased to see the Blue Knights back in the running to take control at Ibrox and looking to reconfigure their offer.
Clark pleased to see consortium back in the takeover race
Rangers administrator Paul Clark is pleased to see the Blue Knights back in the running to take control at Ibrox and looking to reconfigure their offer.
The consortium, led by former Gers director Paul Murray, are in talks over submitting a fresh proposal after American businessman Bill Miller unveiled details of his £11.2million bid, which he will send in on Monday.
The Blue Knights were in line to become preferred bidders more than a week ago but could not immediately pay the £500,000 exclusivity fee and then stepped back after discovering potential partners Ticketus were negotiating with Bill Ng's Singapore group.
Ng has since withdrawn and Miller vowed to push through his 'newco' proposal unless anyone stepped up.
With the Blue Knights hoping to re-enter the contest, Clark said: "We've never ruled the Blue Knights out, it was them of course that stepped back from the position earlier in the week.
"We'd had an agreement with them in relation to a financial commitment on exclusivity terms and there was a decision, in fact by Ticketus as opposed to the Blue Knights consortium, to withdraw that financial commitment.
Setback
"That was a real setback at the time because had it not have been for that withdrawal of financial commitment, we were about ready to name them as the preferred bidder.
"Another week has gone by, it was unfortunate but [I'm] delighted to have Paul and the guys back in the frame."
Even if the Blue Knights do not formulate their plans by Monday, there remain questions over Miller's bid given it is dependent on receiving written assurances from the football authorities that a new Rangers would not be punished next season.
The Scottish Premier League clubs are due to vote on 30th April on proposals that would see newco clubs deducted money and points for several seasons.
Duff and Phelps have previously stated they need unconditional bids.
Miller's bid to buy the assets and then merge his new firm with the current club at a later would likely start a lengthy legal process too.
He has not seen the need to speak to current major creditors Ticketus or Craig Whyte, who owns 85 per cent of shares, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are owed almost £20million even before a tribunal rules on another, potentially far larger dispute with the club.
Documentation
A Company Voluntary Arrangement, the route preferred by Murray's group, could also be complex despite the Blue Knights' potential partnership with Ticketus and Clark warned Rangers would not come out of administration that way before the end of the season even with the best-case scenario.
He added: "It's difficult to be specific but I would envisage the drafting of the (CVA) document would take place in the days they were deducting any final due diligence.
"Let's say that's a seven to 10-day period and I'm just suggesting that. Then the document would need to go out with a 14-day period for the creditors meeting.
"In reality if Blue Knights-Ticketus were to become the preferred bidder, the actual CVA approval would probably be soon after the end of the season.
"But we should be able to conclude all of that if that were the case and, as long as everyone moved at the same speed, we should be able to conclude all of that as soon as possible in the close season.
"But there is a fair amount of legal documentation and action that needs to be taken so it will still be more than a handful of weeks before it finally gets concluded."
