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United: Where the money is owed
THE Company Voluntary Arrangement put forward to Leeds United's creditors by Ken Bates is a transparent depiction of the intricate business that professional football has become.
From the debt of 12,839,309 owed to Astor Investment Holdings Limited to a three-pound payment due to a property firm in Ferrybridge who have entered into liquidation, the CVA document constructed by Bates explains every penny which forced United into the hands of administrators KPMG a fortnight ago.
The list of creditors is long and varied, encompassing a wide spectrum of business and society.
Alongside the names of solicitors, accountants and local authorities are those of delicatessens, locksmiths, travel agents.
Even a mobile disco is listed. A total of around 1,350 creditors are involved.
Most, if not all, have spent the latter half of this week contemplating the implications of a deal which offers them next to nothing.
The terms of the CVA drawn up in the name of Leeds United Football Club Limited, the company and vehicle through which Bates intends to buy back United from KPMG, confirms that the club's hundreds of unsecured creditors will receive a penny for every pound they are owed if his proposal is approved at a meeting on June 1.
Preferential creditors can expect to be reimbursed in full, but their number will be vastly outweighed by the hundreds of businesses and individuals who have been asked to forego 99 per cent of the money they are owed.
The unsecured creditors are preparing to become the collateral damage of United's historic debts and chronic overspending.
The deal put forward would instantly cut Leeds' liabilities of 35m to something approaching a six-figure sum.
Gerald Krasner, the former Leeds chairman and insolvency practitioner who described Bates' offer as "utterly derisory" yesterday, suggested Leeds United Football Club Limited were in line to re-purchase the club for as little as 500,000, including the professional fees incurred by administration.
In the space of seven days after the High Court issued an administration order on May 4, KPMG's charges totalled 95,038, the result of 340 hours work at an average hourly rate of 279.
The benefits of administration can be numerous but the service does not come cheap.
The basic figures thrown to KPMG by Leeds, showing total debts of 35m and net liabilities of just under 23m, were the tip of the iceberg of cash owing from Elland Road.
Beyond the massive sums of money due to Astor Investment Holdings Limited, Forward Sports Fund and Krato Trust – United's biggest creditors – rates due to Leeds City Council are tallied at 838,494, and more than 630,000 is due to seven former players, one of whom – Danny Mills – left Leeds in 2004.
Mills is owed 216,667 by United, and the enigmatic Michael Ricketts, who made only 29 appearances for the club, is still waiting for a settlement of 117,500.
The combined bill due to Paul Butler, Sean Gregan, Steve Stone, Eirik Bakke and Jermaine Wright is 297,429.
Bakke alone is set to receive 76,000. Barring any fresh agreement, Football League rules will ensure their debts are paid in full.
The liabilities extend not only to ex-players but to other clubs and footballing organisations.
Swindon Town have a bill of 100,000 outstanding, a debt which is likely to be linked to the acquisition of United's management team, Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet, from the County Ground in October of last year.
Barnet are due 150,000, presumably as a result of the deal which brought striker Tresor Kandol to Elland Road last year.
Further money totalling 596,921 is owed to Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield United, Brondby IF, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers, Wolves, Reading, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Charlton, a list which mirrors the string of loan signings made by Leeds last season.
Numerous agents are also listed among the creditors, along with the Football Association and the Football League.
The effects of administration will be far-reaching among football's economy, and that of the area surrounding Leeds.
The CVA's list of creditors is a roll of every conceivable industry and service, connected in some way to the business of football.
The catalyst behind United's move into administration was a 5m bill called in by the Inland Revenue, though despite securing a winding-up order and as a result of the Enterprise Act, the taxman is no longer classed as a preferential creditor and is technically no more likely to secure their funds on June 1 than the average businessman in KPMG's list.
Bates, however, requires 75 per cent of creditors to approve his proposal, and the Inland Revenue may have a key role to play in next month's ballot.
According to the CVA, United are assured of receiving "unqualified support" from Astor Investment Holdings Limited, Forward Sports Fund (FSF) and Krato Trust, whose combined debt is stated as being in the region of 18m.
FSF hold the shares in Bates' new company, Leeds United Football Club Limited, while Astor have waived their right to claim as a secured creditor having been issued with a debenture in their favour by Leeds on April 4.
But were any of the three to be classed by law as connected creditors – with proven links to United or any of their directors – Bates would require permission from more than 50 per cent of the club's unconnected creditors to force his CVA through.
The quiet threat in the background of the dealings between Bates, KPMG and the rival parties who are showing an interest in owning Leeds is the winding-up petition served by the Inland Revenue on Leeds shortly before midday on Tuesday, April 17.
The petition was issued by the High Court of Justice in Bristol and will be heard on June 27 if KPMG fail to push through a successful takeover bid before that date.
A paragraph in the CVA document revealed that United had been paying 200,000 a month to Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs (HMRC) as the result of historic debts built up over a period of years, and the failure to meet those instalments in March and April – breaching a 'time to pay' agreement with HMRC – prompted the Inland Revenue to pursue a winding-up petition.
Ironically, the information drawn up by KPMG also shows that Leeds posted a net profit of over 1m in the nine months leading up to March 31, 2007, although the club sustained an operating loss and strengthened their accounts with the sales of Rob Hulse and Matthew Kilgallon to Sheffield United.
KPMG have also confirmed that the settlement with Chelsea over the transfer of two youth team players, Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo, to Stamford Bridge was worth in the region of 4m.
When the loans made to Leeds by Astor Investment Holdings Limited between June and October of last year are considered, totalling more than 4.2million, the degree to which money was slipping out of Elland Road is glaringly apparent.
The pressure on Leeds is increased by the fact that the club have few serious assets to speak of.
Elland Road and Thorp Arch training ground remain in the hands of British Virgin Islands-based firm Teak Commercial Limited, and KPMG estimate that, in a 'forced sale scenario', the club's squad would bring in a sum of 3.2m.
The Football League would insist that the proceeds from player sales are used to settle football debts, rather than those of unsecured creditors.
Under English rules, all football debts must be settled in full before United's membership of the Football League and Football Association is transferred to a new company.
Among those protected by the CVA are the 184 supporters who purchased 20-year season tickets during Krasner's reign as chairman in 2004.
The investments will be honoured should Bates retain control of United, and other buyers would also be unlikely to bring on a public relations disaster by declaring the tickets void.
The details of United's finances, and the inescapable web they have produced, explain exactly why KPMG were called into Elland Road two weeks ago.
The trap that Leeds walked their way into, over a number of years, was beyond the financial nous of Bates, and beyond the interest of any sensible investors.
Throwing money at an insolvent club was a pointless task while the debts remained as high as they are.
In the days leading up to June 1, the club's creditors will take the time to consider their position and decide whether Bates' proposal is good enough to support.
Krasner says not, and the presence of confirmed and rumoured bidders hovering about Elland Road may persuade others to agree.
The magic number is 75, and Bates will visualise that percentage between now and June 1 as he fights to reach his ideal scenario of a debt-free club.
It is a footballing dream for chairman across the world, but the insolvency of Leeds United AFC Limited will leave financial carnage in its wake, whoever takes the reigns.
Administration always does.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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