THE firm which provided the finance for Craig Whyte to acquire Rangers FC from Sir David Murray wanted the deal kept secret, the High Court in Glasgow was told yesterday.
The charges against Whyte allege that he had only £4 million available from two sources at the time but financed the deal by taking out a £24m loan from Ticketus against three years of future season ticket sales.
The court heard a claim that Whyte had told Murray by email that he would be using “third-party” funds but Ticketus was not named. Evidence has previously been led that Rangers had used Ticketus before, but Sir David Murray denied in court that he knew of any involvement of Ticketus in the Whyte deal.
In his evidence under questioning by defence QC Donald Findlay, witness Ross Bryan, 38, a fund manager formerly of investment firm Octopus Capital that backed Ticketus, said Ticketus’ involvement could be “embarrassing” for Murray.
Bryan, who was giving evidence for a second day, said Ticketus was not “publicity hungry”. Findlay suggested to the witness that Ticketus “wanted their involvement kept secret”.
Bryan agreed and added there was a potential “embarrassment” for Murray if it became known.
It was also claimed fans may “boycott” season tickets if they “objected”.
But Findlay went on to state Ticketus were “only interested in securing” their transaction whether it “upset” anyone or not. Findlay asked: “You wanted this deal to go through?”
Bryan responded: “Once we got to a certain stage, we expected it to close.”
Findlay suggested it was “celebratory” for Ticketus, but Bryan answered “only in the context of selling tickets”.
The Crown alleges Whyte pretended to Murray, and others, that funds were available to make all required payments to acquire a “controlling and majority stake” in the club.
Whyte denies acquiring Rangers by fraud in May 2011 and also denies a second charge under the Companies Act relating to a payment of £18m between Whyte’s Wavetower firm and Rangers to clear a bank debt.
The trial before Lady Stacey and a jury continues.
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