Boooooooo why the wait?????
just finish them now!!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WHO DAT!
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Boooooooo why the wait?????
just finish them now!!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WHO DAT!
I think somebody has probably already asked this, (and answered - please be patient with my slow-wittedness!) but if UBIG forgive all the debt now, and off-load them to some Gorgie newsagent for a tenner, can future administrators / liquidators object to that sale?Quote:
Originally Posted by WHO DAT!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...iles-away.html
Quote:
Failed Baltic Bank Raises Risk of Broken Hearts 1,000 Miles Away
Vladimir Romanov bought Heart of Midlothian eight years ago and promised to wipe out debt, replace its aging stadium and boost dwindling crowds.
After the collapse of the Lithuanian bank at the core of his business empire, Romanov is set to leave the Edinburghsoccer club as he found it: battling for survival. Regulators last month closed Ukio Bankas AB (UKB1L), which financed Romanov’s international sport, aluminum and real-estate projects.
“He had a lot of dreams, but his dreams never came true,”former Hearts team manager Csaba Laszlo said in an interview last week. “It’s not a nice story.”
Romanov, 65, first invested in Hearts in 2004, a year after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took control of Chelsea inLondon and spent millions on new players. While acknowledging he had a fraction of the wealth, Romanov, also Russian-born, similarly promised a rise through the ranks of soccer. Last year, Chelsea won the Champion’s League, the top trophy in European club football, as Hearts struggled to pay a tax bill.
Rather than become a new home fit for elite European competition, Hearts’s Tynecastle stadium in the west of the Scottish capital is pledged to Ukio as security for debts, as are the shares that give him control of the club.
Romanov, who first publicly mooted the sale of Hearts in November 2011, said his downfall was engineered by rival banks in conspiracy with Lithuanian authorities.
Destruction
“The goal of those who took my bank was not just to take the bank but to destroy all my business,” Romanov, who last year founded the Lithuanian People’s Party and won 0.25 percent of votes in a parliamentary election, said by phone on March 1.
The Bank of Lithuania suspended Ukio’s activities on Feb. 12 and permanently revoked its license a week later, saying risky loans to parties related to Romanov had driven the bank to insolvency. Romanov owns 64.9 percent of Ukio, filings show. Some of the loans went to Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe, or UBIG, through which he controls 79 percent of Hearts.
“There’s no conspiracy,” Raimondas Kuodis, deputy chairman of the Lithuanian central bank, said by telephone yesterday. “Such accusations are mere defense tactics. The bank simply had big negative capital and according to the law could no longer operate.”
It will be several months before Ukio’s eventual bankruptcy administrator might come calling on Hearts to pay back borrowing or forfeit its stadium, according to the lender’s temporary administrator, Adomas Audickas.
Tax Bill
Romanov said the club’s debt is about 20 million pounds, roughly what it was when he took over. Hearts sold shares last year to supporters to raise money for a tax bill and the prospectus put the debt at 24 million pounds, including 1.75 million pounds owed to the taxman. It said the club would face liquidation should UBIG demand repayment.
Hearts fans “certainly have time” to sort out club finances and seek a new savior, assuming cash flows suffice for player salaries and other obligations, Audickas said in a March 15 phone interview from Kaunas, where Ukio is based. A supporters group is in talks to acquire the club.
“If anyone wants to try to rescue the club, they should be talking with UBIG,” he said.
Hearts was founded in 1874, a year before Edinburgh rival Hibernian, and named after a dancing club in the city during the Victorian era. The team, which plays in maroon and white, last won the Scottish championship in 1960, a league that has been dominated by Glasgow clubs Rangers and Celtic.
Cup Victories
There was some success under Romanov. After building his stake in Hearts, he assumed its debt, 19.2 million pounds at the time, and looked into expanding the stadium or replacing it.
On the field, things started looking up during the first season of Romanov’s tenure. As Hearts won games, its 18,000-seat Tynecastle stadium sold out, up from an average attendance of 12,000 the previous season. Hearts finished second in the league and qualified for the Champion’s League preliminary rounds.
Hearts went on to win the Scottish Cup in 2006 and again last year, beating Hibernian in the final. It lost to St. Mirren in the final of the second-tier League Cup last weekend.
“For all the criticism, there have been two cup wins and I grew up thinking Hearts were never going to win anything,”Graeme Downie, 32, a communications consultant and a Hearts season-ticket holder, said on March 14. “He took us over in a bad state, and if he hands us over to someone else in the same way, after two trophies, I don’t think I can complain.”
Revolving Door
In the club, Romanov appointed Lithuanians, including his son, to the board and gained a reputation for firing managers. Laszlo, 49, a Romanian-born Hungarian, is among 10 managers to have come and gone at Hearts under Romanov.
Laszlo said he was fired in early 2010 after 18 months in the job and seven straight victories. No explanation was ever given, he said by telephone on March 12. Laszlo is currently coach of the Lithuanian national team.
The problem for Romanov is that while he has “many good business ideas,” his associates don’t challenge the ones that aren’t so good, according to Laszlo. Manager John McGlynn, who started in June, left at the end of last month by mutual agreement, according to the club’s website. Gary Locke, a former Hearts player, was named to replace him on March 16.
Romanov, who served on a Soviet nuclear submarine and worked as a taxi driver and electrician, said last week he’s structured his diverse businesses to “insure” them against“thieves” and “perverts.” He intends to fight for his property in court against Lithuanian authorities.
Needing Money
FC Kaunas, a soccer club in Lithuania’s second-biggest city, closed in 2012 after Romanov withdrew the previous year. Zalgiris basketball club, also in Kaunas and 75 percent owned by UBIG, this month asked for financial help from fans to survive.
As for Hearts, Romanov said realizing the club’s potential demands more resources than he now has. He’s seeking outside investors to help rescue and revive the Edinburgh squad. “We could sell part of the club, or all of it,” he said.
Hearts Director Sergejus Fedotovas said on March 4 by e-mail that a “number of investors” expressed interest “without any detailed proposal as to acquisition or otherwise.”
Alex Mackie of Foundation of Hearts, a group that wants to buy it on behalf of fans, said it won’t be easy to save the club because it’s losing about 2 million pounds a year as well as players. Banks won’t lend, investors aren’t likely to pay Romanov what he thinks his shares are worth, and other shareholders now have empty pockets after the recent stock sale.
“He’s not lived up to what he promised,” said Downie, the season-ticket holder. “But any Hearts fan who believed everything he said at the time was very naïve.”
I reckon that that bloomberg piece is the best article on ugly bunch's situation I've seen. Most disappointing bit is the fact that the administrator is going to take a few months to chase them for the money.
Can we now add Bloomberg to the exhaustive list (SFA, PFA, UEFA, FIFA, NASA, FBI, CBI, BBC, ITV, SKY, ESPN) of organizations with an anti-hearts agenda?
Found this part interesting in particular...Quote:
Originally Posted by grunt
This would suggest, contrary to Banderson, that Vlad is nowhere near in control of Hearts. If the shares in Hearts - I am guessing that is UBIG's c75% stake - are pledged in security to Ukio Bankas, then nothing can happen to them without Ukio Bankas say. Unless the pledge documents, assuming the situation is similar to our legal system, have a specific mechanism for release of that part of the security: e.g. repayment of a specific amount of debt. Which would of course come back to the whole point that any purchaser of the Yams would need very deep pockets.Quote:
Rather than become a new home fit for elite European competition, Hearts’s Tynecastle stadium in the west of the Scottish capital is pledged to Ukio as security for debts, as are the shares that give him control of the club.
A distinction also needs to be made between the assigned security - the specific security over the PBS and the floating charge - as the share pledge will have no relation to their debt to UBIG. It solely concerns UBIG's debt to Ukio and, if that is in default, that 75% shareholding could conceivably transfer.
But this part is also interesting...
That suggests to me that a default of UBIG's debt to Ukio Bankas has not yet been triggered. The situation would necessarily be different if the default had been triggered and the security was in the process of being called-up. However, if a default is in progress, then it contradicts the earlier statement about the share pledge.Quote:
Hearts fans “certainly have time” to sort out club finances and seek a new savior, assuming cash flows suffice for player salaries and other obligations, Audickas said in a March 15 phone interview from Kaunas, where Ukio is based. A supporters group is in talks to acquire the club.
“If anyone wants to try to rescue the club, they should be talking with UBIG,” he said.
I think that the "due diligence" might take a wee while...
That's if they don't run out of cash which sounds like is a real possibility.Quote:
Originally Posted by cockneymike
Also, assuming ubig still go tits up soon hearts could very well be playing first division football by the time they start to get on hearts case for the debt.
Good article! Someone should send to #allisbarry and show how to write a true article about that bunch!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by grunt
loved this bit
:faf::faf::faf:Quote:
Hearts was founded in 1874, a year before Edinburgh rival Hibernian, and named after a dancing club in the city
Callum Elliot was merely performing an ancient dance that represented the birth of HomfcQuote:
Originally Posted by dangermouse
Done :greengrinQuote:
Originally Posted by 007 Mickey Weir
That's like saying could you sell your mortgaged house to a bloke down the pub without the bank you're mortgaged to having any say. I very much doubt UBIG are in a position to forgive anything but they certainly can't forgive the £6.8M debt secured on Tiny unless the Lithuanian state bank says they can.Quote:
Originally Posted by s.a.m
That was the analogy I had in mind, and I kind of hoped that would be the answer.:greengrinQuote:
Originally Posted by JeMeSouviens
Howevvvvvvvvver.......would it not be more like RBS, or some other mortgage or debt holder, on the brink of going bust, saying: "Aye, OK. What the ****. You can have it for free! That'll teach the regulatory *******."
Would whoever was in charge of sorting out the mortgage lender's affairs, post-bust, be able to say: "Actually.....naw. I think you'll find they had no business doing that. Settle up. Now"
Highland dancers since 1874 !!
UKIO held the security, it now resides with the Bank of Lithuania. The chance for that kind of caper is long gone. :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by s.a.m
:aok:Quote:
Originally Posted by JeMeSouviens
What about this bit, seems to suggest UBIG would be able to negotiate without Administrators approval.
Hearts fans “certainly have time” to sort out club finances and seek a new savior, assuming cash flows suffice for player salaries and other obligations, Audickas said in a March 15 phone interview from Kaunas, where Ukio is based. A supporters group is in talks to acquire the club.
“If anyone wants to try to rescue the club, they should be talking with UBIG,” he said.
It would absolutely 100% be challenged. In technical terms its called gratuitous alienation, in layman's terms the disposal of an asset at undervalue. Any insolvency practitioner appointed would seek to reduce the transaction.Quote:
Originally Posted by s.a.m
Yes, but with the secured debt paid off or left firmly in place. Nobody will buy Hearts under those conditions when they have the option of waiting a few months and hoping there's an opportunity to pick up the bits cheaply.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimBHibees
Think you're right the money running oot is the biggest concern for HoMFC and that is a matter of weeks.Quote:
Originally Posted by bingo70
Anybody seen the film 'The Grey' ?
SPOILER ALERT
Liam Neeson is leading a team of plane crash survivors to safety away from some nasty wolves he is actually leading them to the wolves lair. They all die in the end!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimBHibees
I think that is a " Cardigan wearers, please don't waste my time with your sob stories, my country has been dipped for several billion euro and your worried about a dancing club that plays football. "
The admin is right though, agreement to sell Yam F C shares first have to be agreed with UBIG then it would be up to the admin. to release the security on the football club shareholding if it was best value for the Bank's creditors.
Another thought though, should the fact that the majority share holding in HOMFC is being used as security for its holding companies debts not have been made public knowledge by way of Companies House or at the very least in the share issue prospectus.
Ok was going to watch it but no need now :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Treadstone
You would have thought so?Quote:
Originally Posted by greenginger
Once again I would like to say that the plight of Dunfermline seems to be sealed and they will close in 7 days if a solution isn't found yet there is not a peep about this manky mob up the road in the press or anywhere else for that matter regarding the money they owe and all the loopholes they are using to squirm out of it, when will the Scottish media wake up and smell the freshly baked cakes?
:grr:
Banderson with a sniffy tweet telling people to calm down and Yams were paid on the 16th. Less forecoming (nowt) on my 6th request asking if the share certificates have been posted out.
On the first point, no. UBIG is not a UK company, therefore there is no requirement.Quote:
Originally Posted by greenginger
That probably also holds true for the second point, technically, although from the point of view of transparency I agree with you. Their defence, and it's a reasonable one, would be "you're the buyer. You do your homework."
Them and oldco.Quote:
Originally Posted by HIBERNIAN-0762
Hearts £1.8m owed, solution? Pay over a period of time.
Oldco, something like £45m owed, solution? Farce of administration, sell the assets for peanuts and screw the creditors.
Pars £134k owed, solution? Liquidate them immediately.
Farce.
I can't believe they were paid on a SATURDAY.Quote:
Originally Posted by Treadstone
This would suggest, contrary to Banderson, that Vlad is nowhere near in control of Hearts. If the shares in Hearts - I am guessing that is UBIG's c75% stake - are pledged in security to Ukio Bankas, then nothing can happen to them without Ukio Bankas say. Unless the pledge documents, assuming the situation is similar to our legal system, have a specific mechanism for release of that part of the security: e.g. repayment of a specific amount of debt. Which would of course come back to the whole point that any purchaser of the Yams would need very deep pockets.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smidge
A distinction also needs to be made between the assigned security - the specific security over the PBS and the floating charge - as the share pledge will have no relation to their debt to UBIG. It solely concerns UBIG's debt to Ukio and, if that is in default, that 75% shareholding could conceivably transfer.
They are all different situations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitlochry hibee
HMFC were faced with the same as DAFC a few months ago. They were late with PAYE, and had a winding-up order against them. They paid, so HMRC's tactics worked; they are trying the same with DAFC. The investigation settlement is different; HMRC know they will get nothing if they push for immediate payment, so they are hoping to get the money when HMFC are at their most cash-rich.
The RFC situation is, of course, ongoing.
I stay around the corner from the Wongadome I think that may be why they had the crash barriers out on Sunday. Can't be any other reason!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitlochry hibee