Caley Thistle are bracing themselves for administration – after a bid to secure lifeline investment failed.
It is understood that the League One club stand to lose £1.2million this season with significant cash needed before the end of the year.
Former Inverness chairman Alan Savage, who has been working as a consultant at ICT over recent months, has been trying to find a buyer for the stricken outfit.
He and manager Duncan Ferguson even appeared on BBC Scotland’s A View from a Terrace television programme on Friday, aiming to highlight their plight to a wider audience.
But administration is now inevitable and the only option for ICT – who are competing in League One after being relegated at the end of last season.
SPFL punishments imminent for ICT
In August, Orion Group chief Savage revealed a period of up to six months for the club to find an investor, while also injecting more than £200,000 himself to keep Caley Thistle running.
Top football administrator Bryan Jackson has put Inverness on to BDO, the accountancy firm who oversaw the liquidation of Rangers and were administrators for Hearts and Dunfermline Athletic.
It now seems BDO will be taken on to lead the club into administration, which would almost certainly spell redundancies on and off the park and a league points deduction – a hammer-blow for a Caley Thistle side already five points off the top of the third-tier table.
A points deduction of up to 15 points would be handed out by the SPFL. ICT have nine points from eight games, so could drop to bottom spot with a minus-six points tally.
The club would also be under review of the SPFL, meaning any further financial dip might well lead to their licence being stripped, which removes the right to play professional football.
The first part of the indicative administration Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is to lay out a way to save the club by agreeing with creditors repayment amounts, be it in full or not.
Club in pre-administration mode
The Caley Jags are in phase one of three – which is the pre-administration period.
This considers cash flows and costs being met – something the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Scotland will have an eye on.
The next stage of the process is ensuring all funding can be met to cover any trading shortfalls and to cover the cost of administration itself.
Sales memorandum and non-disclosure agreements would then be drafted and there would be the consideration on whether the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) would need to be notified prior to the appointment.
Striker Charlie Reilly signs amid Caley Thistle turmoil
Meanwhile, amid the impending administration turmoil, Caley Thistle announced the loan signing of striker Charlie Reilly from Dundee on Tuesday morning.
The 22-year-old former PFA Young Player of the Year – which he won during a remarkable scoring spell at League Two Albion Rovers – has been brought in until January after an opening to the campaign where Inverness have struggled to hit the back of the net.
*** We will have more on this developing story throughout the day.
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