Author: Guy Thomas   The BBC  reports that the CVA proposal is very nearly with us. The meeting at Fratton Park on 6th May, three weeks back, must seem a long time ago for the creditors of Portsmouth City FC.  Those that were there will no doubt remember the first of the Joint Administrators’ proposals “to achieve the purpose of the Administration” that they voted on. This stated: (1): Proposals to creditors for a CVA will be sent to all creditors within five business days of the acceptance of the Administrators’ proposals. Accordingly a further meeting of creditors to consider these proposals will be convened between 14 days and 28 days of the creditors receiving the CVA proposals. Informal indications since then have been that the expected proposals were imminent. This ‘nearly there’ has now stretched out for what seems a very long time. The Insolvency Rules that govern the Administration state that the Administrator should send out minutes of a meeting “as soon a reasonably practicable”. In case anyone is wondering how this process can be done, they would do worse then to take a look at this website set up by Brendan Guilfoyle, one of the Joint Administrators of Crystal Palace. Funnily enough that club’s meeting of creditors took place in May too. Theirs was on the 17th, yet they still manage to put up minutes of the meeting and the follow up letter to creditors. A check of Companies House (earlier today, 27th May 2010) shows that Pompey’s Administrators found time to file the right form confirming the creditors’ committee, but oddly the minutes of what happened at the meeting don’t yet appear on the register, nor do the creditors seem to have received them. Why would the Administrators fail to file the minutes of the meeting and why has it taken so long to send out the proposals? It seems likely that the Administrators have been using the time to seek the major creditors’ agreement prior to “committing” to a “CVA proposal”; on the other hand it could be that the points raised at the May 6th meeting gave the Administrators pause for thought. We won’t know more until the proposal is sent out and the creditors are allowed to have their next meeting. That next meeting looks set to be held sometime on June 18th. Interestingly, this is the day after the fixture list is due to be published. Unexplained delays like this only seek to fray the nerves of creditors and fans alike and won’t make the job of the Administrators any easier at the subsequent creditors’ meeting. Even if Portsmouth emerged from administration their fans could still face some turbulent times over the next five years. At the creditors meeting on 6 May it emerged that HMRC would prefer that any CVA the creditors approve should last just six months, during which the CVA supervisors would seek to “sell” the club to a new company. That would enable Pompey to be run under new ownership, while the ‘old club’s’ conduct in the run-up to administration would be investigated by a liquidator. As things stand, without new funding or a different approach, the alternative will be a long drawn-out process lasting up to five years. The creditors of Pompey might also want to look at Swindon’s experience in a similar process, there a similar CVA lasted five years but came close to failing when the club struggled to meet a final year ‘balloon’ payment. A lot can change in the run up to or even at the creditors meeting depending on the preferences of the creditors. This story still has a few more twists in it before Portsmouth and those connected to it can emerge out of the shadow of the clubs insolvency.

Originally posted here:
Pompey creditors left in the slow lane whilst Crystal Palace gets closer to a CVA

Author: Marilyn Bell    It’s good to see that our new coalitition government have expressed support for better access to children for grandparents when parents separate. It’s a double blow for many grandparents that not only has their child’s marriage or partnership broken up,  but that they are not able to see their grandchildren. For the children they have not only lost their daily contact with one of their parents,  but the love and support from one set of grandparents has also disappeared. Grandparents will welcome government support that recognises their importance in their grandchildren’s lives.

Read more here:
New Coalition Government Promises To Give More Rights To Grandparents

Author: Guy Thomas The BBC and other media outlets have reported a dramatic increase of Pompey debt. Following a lengthy creditors meeting (5 hours!), Portsmouth’s Creditors yesterday approved (with some modifications) the Administrators resolutions. Whilst it is good news that Portsmouth have been given the green light to go ahead with the preparation of a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), it is important to remember that the club’s fate is still in the hands of its creditors. The trouble is that identifying who the influential creditors are and how much they are owed appears to have got dramatically harder over the course of the Administration. Forgive me if I cough once or twice in this blog, there are several things that have still yet to come out in the wash so I will have to hold off until the currently cloudy waters clear up a bit. What? Who? How much? There really is too much for me to write about in one blog coming out of the creditors meeting; the dramatic increase in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) debt from £17 million to £35million (*acheem*; sorry there goes that cough), the last minute debt claim from the football league of £50 million (*ACHEEEM*), the apparent admission by the Administrator that they have received early “parachute payments” from the league (I wonder how the other struggling clubs will feel about that?), the apparent desire to seek a legal challenge to the “Football creditor rule”, the ongoing review of the Club’s pre appointment transactions, security documentation and land ownership (*acheem, acheem* & *acheem*), the vigorous discussion surrounding the appointment of the 5 (more or less) members of the creditors committee and of course, what high profile meeting would be complete without a verbal dust up between the various IP’s there to represent creditors and another bravura performance by Stephen Hunt (a well known antidote to all known Insolvency Practitioners and their creditors meetings). Instead I am forced to concentrate on one or two coughing points here; I hope to cover the rest in later blogs. HMRC, the Administration and the Football authorities appear to have *accheem* come to an “understanding”. [That’s enough coughing. Ed]. At first glance, following the dramatic increase in the Clubs debt, the total debt now seems closer to c£190million! The final debt figure will no doubt become clearer once the current Administrator/future CVA nominee reviews creditors’ claims. c.£190 million in creditor claims? That is a staggeringly huge figure for such a (forgive me) small company as Portsmouth City Football Club. I invite you to take a look at prior annual accounts and compare the turnover…. It appears that an HMRC driven compromise CVA will be shortly sent out to creditors for approval. If agreed then the CVA will be reviewed after c.6 months and at some point there will be a sale of the Club out of the CVA and into a new company  – hence the speculated involvement of the football authorities. The “shell” of the old company will then be placed into liquidation and a thorough investigation will follow. It looks like the former directors and stakeholders of the Club are set for an “interesting” 2011. There’s enough here for a book! Next Steps? The original first resolution was as follows: “Proposals to creditors for a CVA will be sent to all creditors within five business days of the acceptance of the Administrators’ proposals. Accordingly a further meeting of creditors to consider these proposals will be convened between 14 days and 28 days of the creditors receiving the CVA proposals.”  Even with the “voted” amendments it will be weeks before any CVA can be approved and even then a challenge from creditors or members can still come (within 28 days). And another thing… Approval of the first resolution of yesterday’s meeting will have authorised the Administrator to spend time and money to prepare and send out a proposal even if it is subsequently defeated/not approved. The Administrator is effectively protected from any subsequent criticism of the cost of the proposal by this approval; Approval here gives momentum to the CVA and “moves the conversation” onto the terms of the CVA rather then whether there should be one. If one of the creditors did (for whatever reason) wish to challenge the voting at yesterday’s meeting, they would have to do so within 28 days or lose that right. This could prove tricky to anyone who doesn’t challenge this vote but wishes to go against the outcome of the next meeting. Back to reality The Insolvency Rules which govern CVA approval could still throw up a few interesting points, such as which of the creditors will have their votes effectively down graded because they are “connected” to the Club, but in simple terms, for the CVA to proceed and the club to pull itself out of administration, at least 75% of the creditors who vote at the next meeting, will have to vote in favour of the proposal. Of course, creditors’ votes will be swayed by how much of their debts they will recover under the CVA. C.20p in the £ may not make them rush to agree but the alternatives are very poor. Also, if any of them are also fans they will be keen to help the club avoid any further points deduction at the start of next season, for failing to exit Administration using a CVA. It will be interesting to compare how this Administration compares with Crystal Palace. The Championship Club’s creditors meeting, asking for similar permission to yesterday’s meeting of Pompeys’ creditors is due on 17th May 2010. A copy of Crystal Palace’s creditors report is also available online  although I suspect Palace fans have probably been too wrapped up in the warm afterglow of Survival Sunday to be concentrating on that before now. At Palace, out of the media glare, the debts have not increased in the same way and there has been a noticeable difference to how that Club’s fortunes (and its Administration, led steadily by Brendan Guilfoyle) have been perceived by the creditors, fans and media.

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Tah Daah! A Last Minute HMRC Amendment Means Pompey’s Creditors Approve The Preparation Of A CVA Proposal Whilst The Creditors Claims Increase…