Rangers crisis: Whyte's parent company in 'oldco' purchase to be struck off

Craig Whyte: The businessman owns Rangers FC Group Ltd.SNS Group

The parent company Craig Whyte used to buy Rangers 'oldco' faces being struck off and dissolved.

Rangers FC Group Ltd was used by Mr Whyte to take over Rangers FC plc in May 2011.

The company, which is registered in London, is currently the subject of litigation from club administrators Duff and Phelps, who are pursuing the businessman and his former lawyers Collyer Bristow for more than £25m.

On Friday, documents lodged with Companies House revealed that the Registrar of Companies is seeking to dissolve group, which owned the 85% stake in the club bought from Sir David Murray for £1 last year.

The registrar is seeking to dissolve the parent company as they believe it is not in business or currently operating.

According to the document, Mr Whyte’s Rangers FC Group will have three months from July 17 in which to respond to the striking off proposal.

The group company is wholly owned by Liberty Capital Limited, the British Virgin Islands registered company owned by Mr Whyte, which has stakes in the majority of his business dealings.

Mr Whyte’s business associate Philip Betts was a director of the parent company, as well as of Rangers FC plc in the nine months before administrators were called in. Andrew Ellis, who subsequently claimed he was duped by Mr Whyte in his takeover of the Ibrox club, is the only other director of Rangers FC Group alongside the 41-year-old.

In March, Mr Whyte used the parent company in an attempt to strengthen his hold on the assets of the club through assigning a debenture to Liberty Corporate Ltd, a dormant company owned by him, of which his father Thomas Whyte is the sole director.

Sir David

Liberty Corporate Ltd was granted a fixed and floating charge over Rangers FC Group, while it already had a floating charge over all of the assets of the club as a result of the purchase from Sir David.

The former Rangers owners' shares in the club did not come to have any bearing on the sale process as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) deal with creditors was rejected last month, after HM Revenue and Customs found it contradicted their public policies on non-payment of taxes.

Subsequently, the assets of the club were sold to the Sevco consortium led by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green in a £5.5m deal, which will also cover Duff and Phelps £2.8m legal fees.

In a document released earlier this week, the administrators confirmed there were "no provisions" within their power that would have resulted in Mr Whyte being compelled to deliver his shares to any prospective new owner, which contrasts with their claim during the bidding process that his position was "irrelevant".

The administrators also revealed in the document that the legal battle among themselves, Mr Whyte and the lawyer who advised him on the takeover, Gary Withey, is not likely to reach English courts until late next year.

Originally, the case was scheduled to be held in October, but since then Mr Withey has applied to join the civil action against Mr Whyte, while Collyer Bristow has also lodged claims against him, as well as Liberty Capital and Merchant Turnaround plc – another company linked to the businessman who has not returned to Ibrox since administrators were appointed on February 14.

According to Duff and Phelps, the case is expected to go ahead in the summer or autumn of next year.

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