3 Apr 2012

Whyte: Gers liquidation ‘absolutely unnecessary’

Exclusive: I’m just off the phone to the ever-loquacious Craig Whyte.

He was driving, but nevertheless very happy to talk.

First off, he describes the story flying around Glasgow, that he has agreed to sell his 85 per cent stake in Rangers to Paul Murray, as “absolute crap”.

He said this was not about to happen and reiterated his point, made to me some days ago, that he is not about to walk away from Rangers without the £30m he is owed for his stake.

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He described any liquidation of Rangers as “absolutely unnecessary”.

He said: “What I want to see here is a company voluntary agreement (CVA) as a way out of administration, to preserve the company and the club. I believe that is what fans wish to see, and that is certainly what I wish to see.”

(Click on the picture above for more on the Rangers tax crisis)

I put it to him that given the debt Rangers could face, only an oligarch or Gulf sheik could stump up the £80m-odd required to kick a football in earnest at Ibrox. He replied: “It doesn’t necessarily come down to that. All Rangers has to do is live in future within its means, and then it has a future.

“I have spoken to all the potential bidders except for Club 9, and from what I see none of these bidders wants to see liquidation.”

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