Pars blame group for deal collapse

Dunfermline say fans' consortium The Pars Community was "unable or unwilling to demonstrate" that it had the funds to buy owner Gavin Masterton's shares.

The group had set a deadline of 10:00 GMT on Friday for Masterton to agree to sell his shares but that passed without an agreement being struck.

It said it was "extremely upset at the outcome of its endeavours".

But Dunfermline maintain that "despite repeated requests" the consortium could not provide proof of £250,000 capital.

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“"TPC has worked tirelessly over many months now and is extremely upset at the outcome of its endeavours. ”

The Pars Community The Scottish First Division club has been served a winding-up order by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and has struggled to pay its players on time.

The Pars Community (TPC) wants Masterton, who is owed millions by the club, to stand aside, believing that he is an impediment to saving the troubled Fife outfit.

The group said on Friday afternoon: "TPC has worked tirelessly over many months now and is extremely upset at the outcome of its endeavours.

"We now wish the board of the club well as it seeks to find another solution to its present difficulties.

"The Pars Community has been unable to receive confirmation today from Mr Gavin Masterton's representative that its final, non-negotiable, proposal, made yesterday, was acceptable to Mr Masterton.

"Accordingly, discussions between TPC and Mr Masterton's representative have unfortunately now terminated."

Dunfermline say The Pars Community initially proposed "CHL [Charlestown Holdings Limited, owned by Masterton] and Masterton's shareholding in the club reducing to 10% in return for an investment of £500,000 of which £250,000 was to be underwritten by a group of named individuals and £250,000 was to be raised from supporters".

On top of that, it sought providers of loans to the club to write them down by 60%.

Further talks, claim Dunfermline, sought CHL to reduce its shareholding to zero and for the lenders to take an even greater hit than the 60%.

Dunfermline say they expected an agreement to be made on Friday, which would have kick-started a period of due diligence and "which would have led to the financial transparency they had been so urgently seeking and to verify if the proposed offer was a viable solution".

The club statement added: "However, despite repeated requests to demonstrate that the £250,000 of capital was available by the named supporters to deal with the HMRC issue [it issued a winding-up order for £134,000 in unpaid tax], the TPC were unable or unwilling to demonstrate such availability.

"This led the club to request the TPC to deposit such funds in an escrow account to be released to the club following completion of due diligence.

"At that point the TPC withdrew its offer and subsequently submitted a further proposal, but on significantly more onerous terms than their original one.

"DAFC and its representatives sought a meeting with TPC this afternoon to seek assurances, but the TPC declined this request and have now withdrawn their proposal.

"The Board of DAFC continues to explore all avenues to secure the future of our club as quickly as possible, we will update supporters of progress as soon as possible whilst respecting the financially sensitive nature of the negotiations."

The Pars Community states that it wants Dunfermline Athletic "to move from a model where wealthy or apparently wealthy men and their families run the club and then either pass away, lose interest or lose their money, to a supporters-run model that is becoming increasingly common throughout Britain and on the Continent".

Although discussions have ended the fans group says it "will not rest" until it achieves that objective.