The Joint Administrators would like to provide an update as follows:

Media

Since our last update there has been a substantial increase in the traffic on social media coupled with separate interviews by Paul Stanley and Gerald Krasner on Talk Sport. Unfortunately there has been a lot of mis-reporting and understanding of the situation which has led to Fake News being circulated. We would remind staff and fans that because an item appears on social media it does not make it true especially where anonymous sources are quoted. We hope here to put the record straight.

Sale of the Club

Following the failure of the Spanish Bid, at the beginning of January, we have had 38 enquiries from interested parties. Each party has had the same information and has been provided with an overview of the transaction including assets available, the price, required funding and other conditions. Proof of Funds of £7 million has been requested of which £3 million is required to meet the purchase price and £4 million is to convince the EFL that there are sufficient funds to run the Club until June 2022.

The position as of Thursday night is that we have 14 active interested parties. Of these we have 4 that have supplied us with certified proof of funds and are proceeding to the next stage of the process. The other 10 parties are at different stages in carrying out their due diligence and we continue to communicate with them on a daily basis. No exclusivity has been granted to any party and we have set no final date for offers.

We have continued to liaise with the EFL on the process and had discussions with the supporters club. Once the EFL approve any of the bidders we hope to then move quickly to agree final contracts and move to completion.

We believe the last week has seen the process move in a positive way although there is still a way to go.

In the last week, there have been messages on social media with a story that one of the bidders pulled out due to difficulties and barriers put up by the Administrators. This is patently untrue as all bidders have been treated equally. The fact is this bidder sent what purported to be his Proof of Funds. Because we wished to verify its authenticity, barriers were put up and when we insisted the bidder then pulled out.

Playing Squad

We have rejected offers for Kyle Joseph and Tom Pearce from Championship clubs and Sean McGurk from a Premier League club. Due to EFL restrictions on squad sizes when in Administration, some players have been allowed to leave to enable new players to come in.

All recent decisions regarding players in and out have been endorsed by the first team or academy management team at the club.

Positive tests for COVID-19 together with fixture congestion have put further strain on the playing squad which we feel has unfairly affected the club more than the EFL sanctions were intended, as the squad size rules were drafted pre-COVID and we have made representations to the EFL via the club doctor.

The coaching staff are working to add signings to the playing squad, with the hope of imminent announcements via the club website.

Administrators Fees and Time Costs

At the beginning of the week we filed our Progress Report to 31 December at Companies House. Included in this Report is a section on Time Costs and Remuneration together with an estimate of future time.

Unfortunately parts of the media and some fans looked at the Report and took these figures out of context without reading all of the relevant information. Had they done so they would see that none of the Administrators fees will be paid by the football club. The facts can be summarised as follows

In July 2020 when the deal was done with Mr Yeung and his advisers it was agreed that he would not claim a dividend from the football club on his £25 million claim. This reduced the creditors from £30 million to £5 million on which a 25p dividend would have to be paid to save a further points deduction. In addition, the Administrators fees and disbursements would be paid from his property companies. If there are insufficient funds in these companies to pay them then the balance would be written off and not charged to the football club.
As of 31st December no fees on account have been drawn from any of the companies
At no time has any bidder been told that they have to pay any of the Administrators fees.

Summary

We hope that the above has helped to explain the main matters of the last week and we realise what a difficult time this has been for both staff and fans coupled with the lockdown.

Rest assured we are doing our utmost to resolve the situation in these difficult times.

A further report will be issued next Friday.

Statement from the Joint Administrators (22.01.21)