Buy-out of club hits snags
Last updated : 26 November 2003 By The Chairman
Plans to complete the takeover of Athletic on December 9th. have hit snags and it is now acticipated that the deal will not be concluded until the end of January. Before any new club can be formed some legal obligations have first to be met. A meeting of creditors has to be arranged before the club can come out of administration and they will need the okay for a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement) which will help them write off their existing debts. The Inland Revenue will take most of any surplus but non-football creditors, companies who supplied the club on a daily basis, will get nothing. Even season tickets would not be valid for the new company but the new owners would have an obligation to honour them.
Jon Newell, the administrator said, “The time scale is against us for December 9th. so, when you account for the Christmas and New Year period, we are probably looking at an extra few weeks. Everything needs to be in place at the same time for the Football League to agree the package, and also to transfer league membership to a new entity. But the investors are still providing funds – we know they’ve got money and we know how keen they are on a deal. They have reached agreement to buy the stadium, so the minor detail is being dealt with. We are still making progress.”
