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Pompey Takeover Saga


Fitzhugh Fella

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Meanwhile, in another installment of "they just don't get it, do they?"....

 

pompey_pages_normal.jpg The Pompey Pages ‏@Pompey_Pages As long as the club didn't receive 56 more votes for the statue than the free tickets for schools, then that is confirmed. #Pompey

 

3478176_normal.png FM Saints Researcher ‏@MatthewLeGod

@Pompey_Pages "Free tickets for schools", where does the £30k actually go? To the club? To pay debts? I thought that wasn't allowed in this?

 

pompey_pages_normal.jpg The Pompey Pages ‏@Pompey_Pages

@MatthewLeGod not to pay debts, it is going to be used to give free tickets to local schools. #Pompey

 

:facepalm:

 

Well whoever writes for the Pompey Pages Twitter account certainly doesn't! :D

 

I've asked https://twitter.com/#!/npowerstadium aswell, but no reply from them.

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So what's the latest date the FL will kick them out the league then?

 

All seems hugely unlikely they can fulfil fixtures. I don't understand why an insolvent business has been allowed to further increase debts it won't pay anyway.

Maidstone quit the Football League on the 17th August 1992 having failed to compete in their first league fixture against Sc()nthorpe 2 days earlier.

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Well whoever writes for the Pompey Pages Twitter account certainly doesn't! :D

 

I've asked https://twitter.com/#!/npowerstadium aswell, but no reply from them.

 

If the games they were giving away tickets for were a sell out (*chortle*....I know, I know....go with me on this one....) then they could argue that they would be losing revenue by dishing out tickets for free and that would be a legitimate use of the £30k (i.e. there would be no net financial gain) but if they are giving away tickets for matches that aren't sell outs then their income simply goes up by £30k.

 

I guess they could argue that their match-day costs rise to cater for the 'free' children (e.g. more stewards required, and extra turnstile open, more burgers to cook ergo more fat in the pipes, etc) but I doubt that the additional costs would match the additional income.

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Rather than trying to preserve a club that has cheated and defaulted for years the PFA should be welcioming their liquidation, knowing that another club will be promoted in its place, one that pays its bills and players.

 

Absolutely. Just why is it that pulling the plug on Pompey is such a big deal? It's never bothered anyone before, lots of clubs have been liquidated. There's something fishy behind the scenes.

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Absolutely. Just why is it that pulling the plug on Pompey is such a big deal? It's never bothered anyone before, lots of clubs have been liquidated. There's something fishy behind the scenes.

 

I said that two years ago. I think if we new the truths behind this saga (and we never will) then there would be massive uproar.

 

Why were club 24 not liquidated

ages ago ?

 

£200,000,000 of debt????????????????????????????? "gone"

 

God bless the weather

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@solentsport: Appleton hopes for transfer boost: Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton says he is hoping to be allowed to start ... http://t.co/dy7ZGsr7

 

"I'd like to think that hopefully soon if we see a player and we speak to him that we can act on it and get him signed up.

"In the past when teams have been in administration there's been an almost unwritten rule that you have to have 20 players to be competitive.

 

And in the week that Rugby League side Bradford Bulls dismissed all but the bare bones of their coaching staff in a last gasp attempt to stave off liquidation.....

 

Appleton has also confirmed he has been in discussions with a couple of candidates for the vacant first-team coach position and hopes to appoint someone before the players return to pre-season training on Monday.

 

Tune in next time for another gripping episode of "Business As Usual Down At Fratton Park"....

Edited by trousers
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@solentsport: Appleton hopes for transfer boost: Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton says he is hoping to be allowed to start ... http://t.co/dy7ZGsr7

 

 

 

And in the week that Rugby League side Bradford Bulls dismissed all but the bare bones of their coaching staff in a last gasp attempt to stave off liquidation.....

 

 

 

Tune in next time for another gripping episode of "Business As Usual at Fratton Park"....

The administrator knows that he will carry the can if he does it wrong. Therefore if MA is taking staff on, I suggest that TB knows that BC is taking over whatever and they are posturing trying to rid of the higher paid staff and there is a lot of bluff going on. TB is under the constraints of the law (i know, we are talking Pompey)and is liable in certain situations.
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The administrator knows that he will carry the can if he does it wrong. Therefore if MA is taking staff on, I suggest that TB knows that BC is taking over whatever and they are posturing trying to rid of the higher paid staff and there is a lot of bluff going on. TB is under the constraints of the law (i know, we are talking Pompey)and is liable in certain situations.

 

Not really.

 

TB will just use the same argument that AA always used, that being that the club is only viable with a full strength team and full coaching staff, no matter what that costs, because without that then the supporters won't come to the games, and the club / business won't make any moeny.

 

We all know the 'truth', but the excuse has worked in the past, and I see no reason why it won't work again in the future :(

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Not really.

 

TB will just use the same argument that AA always used, that being that the club is only viable with a full strength team and full coaching staff, no matter what that costs, because without that then the supporters won't come to the games, and the club / business won't make any moeny.

 

We all know the 'truth', but the excuse has worked in the past, and I see no reason why it won't work again in the future :(

 

nutshell.jpg

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A curve ball from from Mr Taylor straight to the feet of the "Nutjobs".

 

I think the problem is that this whole thing is such a mess and the parachute payments only cloud the issue even further.

 

The dynamics remain intriguing and this isn't the game of "Who blinks first" as some have suggested on here.

 

Chinny always had the upper hand, but allowed Birch to and co to convince him that the trust could come up with enough cash to satisfy him and buy him out. That quite cleary isn't going to happen now and confirmation from fanshawe that no formal bid has been made and can only be done when all the high earners leave and past and present football creditors accept a minimum reduction of 2/3rds of what they are asking for means it simply is a non runner. It doesnt take much scratching beneath the surface to work out tha their bid equates to 1 or 2 million (Whatever the total is) in exchange for 14 million parchute payments.... it doesn't fly. Chanrai's is not much different than that with the exception of the fact that he COULD fund things until the pp's were paid.

 

Now whilst footballers aren't the smartest species on the planet, they will know all about the PP's so they aren't walking away with 2/3rds reduction. Additionally these amounts also include the first admins football creditors, so think of people like Paul Hart and Sol Campbell...... they won't be accepting a compromise. A final thought is that we know that Huslkepp etc were bought on installments..... So if there are clubs with outstanding football debts.... They certainly won't be accepting a reduction.

 

My best guess is that Chinny will take over, the PP's will go to the football creditors and chinny owns the club to sell on and gets 5 million or so back that way.

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Chinny always had the upper hand, but allowed Birch to and co to convince him that the trust could come up with enough cash to satisfy him and buy him out. That quite cleary isn't going to happen now and confirmation from fanshawe that no formal bid has been made and can only be done when all the high earners leave and past and present football creditors accept a minimum reduction of 2/3rds of what they are asking for means it simply is a non runner.

 

What's stopping the Trust putting in a bid that's conditional on that wage reduction, in exactly the same way that Chainrai has? Otherwise it just seems like a convenient excuse for not putting in a bid (all mouth and no trousers, so to speak). Surely they should just put in a "better" bottom line bid than Chainrai but with the same caveats....?

Edit: just read the rest of your post which pretty much answers my question

Edited by trousers
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At least with the Chainrai bid the creditors probably know he has the money already (albeit it isn't a lot in comparison to the total debt). If the trust win the bid then they have to collect £900 from a lot of people. I don't imagine they will get close to 100% of the money pledged.

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This month's "I'm all right Jack" award goes to....

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Taylor_%28footballer%29#cite_note-FranceFootball_2007-09-28-1

 

Gordon Alexander Taylor OBE (born 28 December 1944) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He became chief executive of the English footballers' trades union, the Professional Footballers' Association. He is reputed to be the highest paid union official in the world.[2]

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18677388

 

Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor says Portsmouth's players must reach a compromise on wages to save the club.

 

"Some players will need to leave the club but it is our job to make sure they have a satisfactory compromise agreement in place bearing in mind the money they have already deferred and the money they will lose in the future."

 

Taylor added: "The position of the PFA is to look after its members as best we can but bearing in mind we have to deal with reality, and the reality of the situation is the future of Portsmouth Football Club is a very serious situation.

 

"We don't want a situation where someone goes out of business and then everyone loses. From that extent, we have to talk to the players and bring home the reality to achieve a settlement."

Edited by trousers
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I seem to remember someone saying that PFC had sold about 1000 'lifetime' season tickets. If so, does this years 4500 season ticket holders include this lot. Whatever happens they still have 1000 or so people at every match who wont pay to be there. This could potentially also have the effect of reducing match day income from ST by about £15000.

They sold 300. A fella I know has one. Brave investment at the time, that has paid off massively considering the £700 ST price tag towards the end of their prem stay.

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Can anyone see someone from pompey saying something like this?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18687492

Rangers: Malcolm Murray issues apology from club

Chairman Malcolm Murray has issued an apology on behalf of Rangers for the "distress, disruption and difficulty inflicted on the football community".

"We are acutely aware that events at our club, brought about by people who are no longer here, have triggered a crisis in Scottish football," he said.

"Ally McCoist, the staff and players have nothing to apologise for.

"But the club needs to make an apology. It is only right that someone expresses our sorrow and regret."

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there you go, any thought that Taylor s outfit may have to cough up has focused the minds there. All of a sudden the players are not important to him but his salary may be at risk if the deferrals etc land in their hands. I doubt the PFA could handle that debt and i suspect the PFA's lawyers are looking at it closely. The pressure on the players is cranking up and the people who should be on their side are now against them.

Pompey will survive, the players will accept the low offers,Bc will be the owner, he will only have to pay 500k to rid the club of £35m (?) debt, all the PP's are safe for them the CVa will be agreed and there will be no further points penalties. Accept it, that is what is playing out and all the toast in the world will not effect things at FP. They have and will get away with it and it is galling.

 

That's exactly how I see it!

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Dear Sirs (at the PFA),

 

It is with some confusion that I write to you in response to Mr Gordon Taylor's recent comments to BBC Radio Solent concerning Portsmouth Football Club.

 

In his interview, Mr Taylor suggested that the [high-earning] players at PFC should acknowledge that they will not receive that which they are contractually owed and that they should 'accept compromise agreements'. If I'm being honest, I find this approach very surprising, to have resulted in further 'pressure' being applied on the players and debatable as to whether it serves the best interests of the PFA members in question.

 

It is well known that the PFA has lodged a claim with PFC's Administrators (PKF) for ~£26m in the event of a liquidation - presumably, this represents the combined values of all outstanding player contracts ?

 

If PFC was to suffer liquidation, would the PFA attempt to ensure that the players' contracts were honoured (in full) and, if so, how would this be achieved ?

 

With about £14m of parachute payments remaining owed to PFC, an outstanding contracts bill of £26m would leave a shortfall of some £12m.. Does the PFA have insurance in place for such eventualities ?

 

I would very much appreciate your clarification on the above and perhaps confirmation as to how Mr Taylor's comments could be considered to be supportive (and in the best interests) of PFA members.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gruffalo

 

Dear Mr Gruffalo,

 

I will try and clarify matters with regard to Portsmouth Football Club.

 

In a very difficult financial situation we are doing our best to try to make sure that the Club is saved and that players who have to leave the Club in order for this to happen have settlements which they find acceptable and can also be guaranteed as far as possible if the Club does survive. If the Club is not able to survive then clearly all such agreements cannot be paid in full, together with the contracts of those players who stay at the Club.

 

Just to let you know we always act in the best interest of PFA members and we are also very mindful that there will be no PFA members at Portsmouth in the future if the Club is allowed to go into liquidation and, from that point of view we are looking to do all we can to help save it.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gordon Taylor OBE

 

Chief Executive

....

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@solentsport: Appleton hopes for transfer boost: Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton says he is hoping to be allowed to start ... http://t.co/dy7ZGsr7

 

 

 

And in the week that Rugby League side Bradford Bulls dismissed all but the bare bones of their coaching staff in a last gasp attempt to stave off liquidation.....

 

 

 

Tune in next time for another gripping episode of "Business As Usual Down At Fratton Park"....

 

Lol unwritten rule. So it's not a rule then.

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Dear Sirs (at the PFA),

 

It is with some confusion that I write to you in response to Mr Gordon Taylor's recent comments to BBC Radio Solent concerning Portsmouth Football Club.

 

In his interview, Mr Taylor suggested that the [high-earning] players at PFC should acknowledge that they will not receive that which they are contractually owed and that they should 'accept compromise agreements'. If I'm being honest, I find this approach very surprising, to have resulted in further 'pressure' being applied on the players and debatable as to whether it serves the best interests of the PFA members in question.

 

It is well known that the PFA has lodged a claim with PFC's Administrators (PKF) for ~£26m in the event of a liquidation - presumably, this represents the combined values of all outstanding player contracts ?

 

If PFC was to suffer liquidation, would the PFA attempt to ensure that the players' contracts were honoured (in full) and, if so, how would this be achieved ?

 

With about £14m of parachute payments remaining owed to PFC, an outstanding contracts bill of £26m would leave a shortfall of some £12m.. Does the PFA have insurance in place for such eventualities ?

 

I would very much appreciate your clarification on the above and perhaps confirmation as to how Mr Taylor's comments could be considered to be supportive (and in the best interests) of PFA members.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gruffalo

Dear Mr Gruffalo,

 

I will try and clarify matters with regard to Portsmouth Football Club.

 

In a very difficult financial situation we are doing our best to try to make sure that the Club is saved and that players who have to leave the Club in order for this to happen have settlements which they find acceptable and can also be guaranteed as far as possible if the Club does survive. If the Club is not able to survive then clearly all such agreements cannot be paid in full, together with the contracts of those players who stay at the Club.

 

Just to let you know we always act in the best interest of PFA members and we are also very mindful that there will be no PFA members at Portsmouth in the future if the Club is allowed to go into liquidation and, from that point of view we are looking to do all we can to help save it.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gordon Taylor OBE

 

Chief Executive

....

 

Might be worth a follow up questioning the point of the Football Creditor's rule if it's going to be ignored by everyone, and where this leaves the Golden Share.

 

And how they feel about Chinny's boast of 'getting his money' whatever happens.

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....

 

I would reply along the lines of:

 

Dear Mr Taylor,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my previous query. I wonder if it is possible for you to settle a point of much discussion between myself and some friends. In the case of a club being liquidated what obligations, if any, sit with yourselves and/or the league with respect to the players outstanding contracts? Some people think they will get nothing, others that there is an obligation on others to settle their contracts in full.

 

Many thanks,

 

...

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This is the situation as I understand it.

 

In the event of any employer going out of business, the unpaid wages of the employees are unsecured creditors, in Pompey's case they are in for a very small share of very little or nothing. Some players (if they have been there over 2 years) can claim statutory redundancy pay, but as that's capped at £430 per year of service, that's not going to be very much.

 

However, if a newco takes over the assets of Pompey with the intention of competing in the Football League, the FL will make the newco agree to pay all football creditors as part of the conditions of transferring the golden share over.

 

So, players get everything - if there's a new Pompey. Players get almost nothing if there's no new Pompey and PST start a new team at the bottom.

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I would reply along the lines of:

 

Dear Mr Taylor,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my previous query. I wonder if it is possible for you to settle a point of much discussion between myself and some friends. In the case of a club being liquidated what obligations, if any, sit with yourselves and/or the league with respect to the players outstanding contracts? Some people think they will get nothing, others that there is an obligation on others to settle their contracts in full.

 

Many thanks,

 

...

 

I would also add: "If the Portsmouth players were to write off a large percentage of what they are owed, doesn't that send out a wrong signal to other club owners to spend equally recklessly in the knowledge that they won't ever have to honour their player's contracts financially? What message does that send out to the rest of your membership? Surely it would be in the interests of the vast majority of your members for Pompey to be liquidated to send out a message to other clubs not to mistreat your members in the way Pompey did? You have a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect the livelihoods of the vast majority of your membership. Why let that opportunity slip through your hands in order to protect the short term interests of keeping an invested club alive?"

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What intrigues me is Taylor's reference to PAST payments outstanding. Is he referring to Sol Campbell's old 'image rights' claim and TBH's claim that he lost £2m in the 2010 administration? Or is he talking about the deferred wages that have been stacking up since February? Or both?

 

If the former, presumably this means the football-related debts from 2010 have NOT yet been settled in full and now won't be. Ergo, if these are now rendered down against the wishes of the players, surely the Golden Share could be withdrawn if the FL have the balls to do it (yeah, I know the answer to that one).

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03/07/2012 7:39 PM BST

Rate: (2 | 1)

Denmead Dave

It is bizarre. Once again the club cons the natives - If there are say 2000 empty seats, and the club cant sell them, they give them away to local school children.

Meanwhile the club pockets the £30k to pay TBH, everyone's happy !!!

 

03/07/2012 7:35 PM BST

Rate: (1 | 0)

denmeadblue

Ummmm so the money will end up in Chanrais hands then?

 

03/07/2012 7:34 PM BST

Rate: (2 | 0)

ant30

Agreed Europatin, seats which wouldn't have been used otherwise means it's effectively cash in the club's pocket

 

03/07/2012 7:03 PM BST

Rate: (3 | 3)

Europatin

Mmmm, sounds a great gesture but giving away 'free' seats in a half empty stadium means that the £30k will be soaked up in the quagmire of debt and confusion that currently exists which I understood was NOT the intention of the competition !

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I would reply along the lines of:

 

Dear Mr Taylor,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my previous query. I wonder if it is possible for you to settle a point of much discussion between myself and some friends. In the case of a club being liquidated what obligations, if any, sit with yourselves and/or the league with respect to the players outstanding contracts? Some people think they will get nothing, others that there is an obligation on others to settle their contracts in full.

 

Many thanks,

 

...

 

Already done.. ;)

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03/07/2012 7:39 PM BST

Rate: (2 | 1)

Denmead Dave

It is bizarre. Once again the club cons the natives - If there are say 2000 empty seats, and the club cant sell them, they give them away to local school children.

Meanwhile the club pockets the £30k to pay TBH, everyone's happy !!!

 

03/07/2012 7:35 PM BST

Rate: (1 | 0)

denmeadblue

Ummmm so the money will end up in Chanrais hands then?

 

03/07/2012 7:34 PM BST

Rate: (2 | 0)

ant30

Agreed Europatin, seats which wouldn't have been used otherwise means it's effectively cash in the club's pocket

 

03/07/2012 7:03 PM BST

Rate: (3 | 3)

Europatin

Mmmm, sounds a great gesture but giving away 'free' seats in a half empty stadium means that the £30k will be soaked up in the quagmire of debt and confusion that currently exists which I understood was NOT the intention of the competition !

 

That Europatin guy seems very sharp and intelligent, don't you think ??

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That is the third email response I have seen from Gordan Taylor and everyone he has failed (Is it deliberate?) to answer the direct question as to whether they will cover the players claims in the case of liquidation or even go after the parachute payments.

 

We are all guessing, but my money is on the PFA doing their part in the press, to save the club, but they will go after the PP's and cover the players if the club is liquidated.

 

As we know that this also covers the first CVA, that means there is a lot of football creditors to get through, in a short period of time.

 

If the FL let them sign a single player, then we will know that a deal has been done and they will be ok.

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Gordon Taylor is a tw*t. How dare he put pressure on people who signed contracts in good faith. (he really is a w**ker)

 

Trevor Birch is a tw*t. How dare he put pressure on people who signed contracts in good faith.

 

The people running club 24 are idiots.Why did they sign contracts they could not afford ?

 

Please,it has gone beyond a joke. Put the fans out of their misery so they can start again.

 

God bless our new home kit :eek:

 

 

Steady on. That's one very good reason for not pulling the plug. Now just now, anyway. :D

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I have spoken to a friend who is a football agent. Don't think he has any players at Pompey. But he has stated that the PFA do not have any obligation to pay the players wages in the event of liquidation. The parachute payment situation is unique so no one knows what will happen to them. The view seems to be they will go to football creditors though but there is an argument that legally even a liquidated club could claim them as an asset.

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That is the third email response I have seen from Gordan Taylor and everyone he has failed (Is it deliberate?) to answer the direct question as to whether they will cover the players claims in the case of liquidation or even go after the parachute payments.

 

We are all guessing, but my money is on the PFA doing their part in the press, to save the club, but they will go after the PP's and cover the players if the club is liquidated.

 

As we know that this also covers the first CVA, that means there is a lot of football creditors to get through, in a short period of time.

 

If the FL let them sign a single player, then we will know that a deal has been done and they will be ok.

 

Haven't they just signed a that Keeper? or has that not gone through yet?

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How the hell can the FL allow them to sign anyone, regardless of wether there on a free or on loan when they (the FL) are putting pressure on existing players to write off huge sums of money they are owed in a bid to save the skates from liquidation.

I really dont understand this! :facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

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no, they have been linked to some sort of non-league keeper who couldn't catch genital herpes in Paulsgrove and gets nosebleeds if there are more than 300 people watching - he claims he's signed and his dreams have been realised, UnAppy says he's 'looking at him'.

Presumably he hasn't heard of YouTube.

 

 

Today they stole £30K off their own supporters, so who knows what new depth of shame tomorrow holds.

Either way the criminality and merriment is set to continue as long as the FL and UK authorities allow them to trade insolvently.

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