Hearts enter administration

19 June 2013 17:47

Hearts have been officially placed in administration after accountancy firm BDO confirmed it had appointed three people to oversee their financial affairs.

Bryan Jackson, James Stephen and Trevor Birch have been named joint administrators after Ukio Bankas, the club's major creditor and part-owner, requested BDO take control following the club's announcement on Monday that they would move for insolvency proceedings.

Jackson, who is currently administrator of Dunfermline, said in a statement: "I can confirm that we have today been appointed administrators of Hearts."

Hearts were earlier docked 15 points for the coming season by the Scottish Premier League.

Jackson worked with former Chelsea and Leeds chief executive Birch during the recent administration period at Portsmouth and has performed similar roles at Clydebank, Motherwell, Clyde and Dundee.

The BDO business restructuring partner added: "Fans will, inevitably, be concerned about these developments and none of them will have wanted this moment to arrive. We will now undertake an urgent examination of the company's records prior to making any further announcements.

"We are acutely aware of the need for speed in this process given the uncertainty of the last few weeks and the proximity of the season's start. We will be talking to all the parties that have shown interest in the club in order to find a resolution as quickly as possible."

The administrator of Ukio Bankas, which owns 29.9 per cent of Hearts and is owed £15million by the club, confirmed he had objected to the proposed appointment of KPMG and requested BDO take charge. Given Ukio Bankas holds a floating charge and other securities over the club's assets, it was destined to win any dispute and no court hearing took place to decide.

Gintaras Adomonis, the administrator of the bankrupt financial institution, said in a statement: "Unfortunately, Hearts could not be restarted and problems of the Heart of Midlothian that we inherited cannot be deleted.

"Despite that, we are trying to find every tiny win-win option suitable both for the creditors of the bank and the club. I believe that administrators with such a vast experience in football-related cases are one of the best options available. Now the faith of the Hearts is in hands of administrators and we are hoping for the best outcome."

Source: PA