That ACL were able to draw – and did draw – upon the escrow account is not to the point: although it assisted ACL’s cash flow for a few months, CCFC was still legally obliged to pay the rent and to make good that draw down (both of which it refused to do); and, in any event, all parties were aware that the escrow account would run out in August 2012, prior to the 2012-13 season (as it did). Nor is it to the point that ACL and CCFC/SISU came to an agreement in August 2012 that CCFC would pay £10,000 per home match to cover ACL’s costs of opening up the ground etc. There may be some dispute as to the level of costs actually incurred; but no one suggests that that sum was significant in terms of paying the Bank loan repayments which were running at over £100,000 per month.
Nor is it to the point that all parties (including both SISU and the Council) used the absence of a rent agreement in discussions with the Bank, with a view to reducing the amount the Bank would accept to purchase the loan debt. As we shall shortly see, the negotiations over future rent had stalled, with the parties far apart; and, without resolution of the Bank loan issue, they were never going to fruit into an agreement. Indeed, as we now know, even when the Bank loan had been repaid, it proved impossible to agree rent going forward.
Throughout, SISU were never in fact going to agree a deal over rent without the other pieces of their jigsaw in place, notably the purchase of the Higgs Charity’s share in ACL which gained them access to the Arena revenues and payment off of the Bank loan. But, by the end of August 2012, there was no real prospect of SISU purchasing the Higgs Charity share in ACL (see paragraphs 37-45 below), and SISU’s aspirations for paying off the Bank loan very cheaply were never realistic (see paragraphs 46 and following below) .
