Coventry facing liquidation

02 August 2013 14:01

Coventry are heading towards liquidation after the owners of Ricoh Arena rejected a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) at a creditors' meeting on Friday morning.

Arena Coventry Limited (ACL), who have been embroiled in a bitter rent row with the Sky Blues which has resulted in them agreeing a groundshare with Northampton, proposed some changes to administrator Paul Appleton's original CVA on Tuesday.

That included an offer to the club to return to the Ricoh Arena on a greatly reduced rent with a 10-year lease, but the changes were not accepted by Appleton, resulting in ACL voting against allowing them to come out of administration.

Liquidation and a hefty points deduction look set to follow, with the club set to discuss their immediate future with the Football League.

A club statement read: "Coventry City Football Club Ltd is likely to be liquidated following rejection of administrator's CVA proposal. It is with great regret that a proposed Company Voluntary Agreement has been rejected by Arena Coventry Limited.

"It means CCFC Ltd is likely to be put into liquidation which is expected to result in a points penalty for the club going into the new season.

"The football club and the Alan Higgs Centre Trust accepted the administrator's CVA, but the City Council, through ACL, have chosen to reject it - leading to possible liquidation and the risk of a 15-point deduction.

"The club will hold urgent meetings with the Football League this afternoon to go through the next steps for the football club."

However, ACL have urged the administrators to come back with another proposed CVA.

"The board of ACL was informed that its amendments to the CVA were not accepted. They were therefore asked to vote on the proposals put forward by the administrator Paul Appleton," a statement from ACL read.

Source: PA