|
BRYAN JACKSON hopes to kick-start Dundee's financial revival today - but insists the club is still on the brink REPORTS THE DAILY RECORD
This afternoon the administrator will collect cash gathered by the Dundee Supporters' Society and the Dark Blue Business Trust.
Jackson hopes the funds will allow him to agree a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement with those who are owed money by the crisis-stricken Dens outfit.
It will be a significant move but the accountant last night stressed it is simply a tentative step forward and that he has a string of major financial and legal hurdles to negotiate before the club is safe.
Jackson first has to satisfy himself he has enough to draw up a CVA, then he will have to persuade the creditors to accept his offer, which is likely to made at a meeting on January 28.
But that task will be made more difficult by the fact former director Calum Melville's status as the major creditor has been diminished.
It's understood a significant portion of the money he put into the club is being legally viewed as a donation rather than a loan, diluting his share of the total debt.
This pushes the likes of HMRC - whose demand for s420,000 in unpaid taxes sparked Dundee's latest financial plight - into a more prominent position as Jackson attempts to get 75 per cent of the creditors to agree.
He must get three-quarters of the club's creditors to accept his proposal in order to pass it legally.
The accountant, who would not comment on Melville's position, said: "I have been talking with the Business Trust and they have indicated they will be offering money in conjunction with that which has already been proposed by the Supporters' Society.
"The supporters have raised in the region of s150,000 while I would be surprised if the Business Trust would get to that figure.
"Ideally, I would like a bit more to reach a figure of around s300,000 but if we don't get there I will have to juggle things a bit.
"I can only offer creditors what I have available.
"Some people are perhaps thinking it will be easier to obtain a CVA than I do. I stress there are a lot of hurdles to overcome.
"I said when I first came in that the club's survival chances were 50-50 and I would still caution fans to appreciate there are a lot of technical difficulties ahead of us.
"The fans have been great and it has been their support that has seen us gain money in some areas when we have lost it in others and had trouble with cash flow.
"I also stated when I came in that the club had enough money to see it to the end of December.
"Now I would say that we have sufficient funds to scrape to the end of January before which we hope to have the CVA in place.
"What I propose will happen once the offers from the society and trust are formally received is that letters will go to the creditors seeking permission to pass a resolution for the company to begin entering a CVA on January 7.
"The next step would be a meeting of creditors on January 28 to make the offer. If accepted, the club would be heading out of administration. All that won't be easy to achieve."