PROPERTY financiers have told of "betrayal" after revealing they made a £14.185m bid for key Rangers assets before a sale for £5.5m to Charles Green's Sevco consortium after the club went into administration.
Manchester-based Seaford Finance made the offer on behalf of Canadian clients to buy Ibrox, the Murray Park training ground and the stadium car park.
It was a deal which would involved the stadium and car park being leased back and the bidders believed they were in "pole position" to do a deal.
Moishe Rothbart, managing director of Manchester-based Seaford Finance said that they "felt betrayed by the people managing the process".
The development emerged as the liquidators of Rangers oldco BDO sue Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps for £56.8m claiming a seriously flawed strategy in raising money for the thousands owed millions after the business collapsed under the ownership of controversial owner Craig Whyte in 2012.
Murray Park
READ MORE: Rangers FC brand was not valued before being sold for nothing
Evidence previously provided to the Court of Session revealed that while the business and Rangers assets such as Ibrox, the Murray Park training facility, trademarks and the players were bought by Sevco for £5.5m, a fair value assessment to the group carried out on the day of the purchase was put at nearly five times that - £27.2m.
Mr Rothbart said the idea to pursue a Rangers deal came as he had previous experience of buy-and-leaseback having been involved in the sale and leaseback of Elland Road stadium, the home of Leeds United FC in 2004.
The indicative £14.185m offer came on May 10, over a month before Sevco's asset purchase, and involved leasing back the stadium and the car park to the club for a period of 20 years at an annual rent of around £1.8m a year.
The club would be entitled to a buy back option on the stadium and car park within the first ten years based on a purchase formula starting at £10m and increasing annually by 12%. The purchase had been linked to having residential planning consent for the Murray Park site.
But Mr Rothbart has told the Court of Session that they were open to negotiation.
"This was our opening offer. He said: "I thought we were in pole position to secure a deal and then at the last minute, it fell away."
He explained that his confidence came because he was able to structure his deal around the sums being expected.
He revealed that he retained an interest after the sale to Sevco.
He added: "In June and July, 2012, I continued to pursue the opportunity to purchase Ibrox stadium, the Albion Road car park and Murray Park on a sale and leaseback basis with the new owners of the club but this was to no avail."
READ MORE: Ex-Rangers administrators fight 'bonkers' £56.8m 'shut club down' claim
The BDO action comes after the Rangers business fell into administration and then liquidation leaving thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including more than 6000 loyal fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox. It was eventually sold to the Charles Green-fronted Sevco consortium for £5.5m.
Mr Whitehouse and Clark are defending the action by claiming the liquidators expected a “bonkers” strategy of a ‘fire sale’ of Rangers which would have “effectively shut the club down for good”.
The administrators have said the idea was to present “a functioning working club” and to rescue it as a going concern so that it could be sold to prospective purchasers.
The action comes nine years after the Craig Whyte-controlled Rangers business fell into administration and then liquidation leaving thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including more than 6000 loyal fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox.
Sir David Murray, the former chairman of Rangers, sold the club for a token £1 to Mr Whyte in May 2011.
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