July 12 Deadline for Hearts Offers, Club Denies £1m Loan from Wonga

Parties interested in making a formal offer for Scottish Premier League (SPL) club Hearts have been given a deadline of July 12 to submit their bids.

Administrators BDO have sent a sales memorandum to all parties who have expressed an interest in the Edinburgh club who are in financial turmoil, with £25m worth of debt to Lithuanian firms UBIG and Ukio Bankas, who are majority shareholders of the club.

The document from BDO indicated that negotiations were ongoing with the two firms, with BDO attempting to allow the shares from UBIG and Ukio Bankas to be included in the sale.

Financial figures released actually show that the club could make a profit going into 2014 of around £400,000 ($611,000) given the savings the club have made. 

No Wonga advance

Meanwhile the club have rejected reports that club sponsor Wonga have handed them a £1m advance to help them in administration.

Reports suggested that the payday loan company made the gesture after talks with administrators BDO.

However, the £1m quoted is ‘nowhere near’ the actual figure offered by the sponsor.

Manager Gary Locke said: “It’s great that one of our main sponsors has shown they are willing to back the football club.

“But contrary to reports, it is nowhere near the figure that has been suggested.

“I have to reiterate to our supporters – get down and buy your season tickets because we do still have a long way to go.

“The support we have had from the fans has been nothing short of incredible but we need to get the message out there that [the Wonga money] is not the figure people have been suggesting.

“It’s a great help to us, don’t get me wrong, but we do need as much money coming into us as we can.”