Rangers administrators Duff and Phelps have defended their yet to be finalised fees after it emerged they had given Craig Whyte a quote of £500,000 before the club went into administration on 14 February. The Company Voluntary Arrangement document estimated that the cost of administration, including legal fees, will be more than £5.5m with at least £3.5m of that attributed to Duff and Phelp's fees. The information of the projected fees came out on the BBC website by investigative reporter Mark Daly. The fee information was in an email from Duff and Phelps partner David Grier to Whyte. In the email Grier proposes to cap fees at £500,000 but also asks for a discussion over additional payment in respect of "total time costs". Joint administrator Paul Clark said: "The email Mr Daly referred to is a fee quotation our firm supplied to Craig Whyte that was based on information he had supplied to us and was for anticipated work relating to a specific possible administration outcome. This outcome did not materialise and therefore the quotation was therefore redundant. From the first day of administration, it became clear to us that the club was in a major insolvency situation that was going to last for a significant period of time. Since the club entered administration, we have fulfilled our statutory duty to look after the interests of creditors and keep the business going despite the challenging circumstances. As stated on Tuesday in the CVA document, all fees are subject to approval by creditors and are in keeping with the best practice guidelines from insolvency practitioners bodies." As secured creditors, Duff and Phelps will receive all of their fee before the remaining money available is shared out among those owed money by Rangers. The Sevco consortium in position to buy the club have pledged £8.5million to creditors, the vast majority in the form of a loan, if a CVA is agreed on 14 June. If rejected, Charles Green's group have a deal with Duff and Phelps to buy the club's assets for £5.5million. Duff and Phelps previously threatened legal action against the BBC over claims of a conflict of interest relating to Grier's advisory role in Whyte's takeover, allegations which are being investigated by the Insolvency Practitioners Association.
Source: FOOTYMAD
