Investors plan summer cash boost for ICT
ANOTHER tranche of cash could be injected into Inverness Caledonian Thistle this summer by a group of investors whose identities emerged this week.
Last month, The Inverness Courier revealed the five-strong Muirfield Mills consortium had secured a significant shareholding at the Scottish Premier League club in exchange for a £250,000 investment.
Four of the five members — Paul MacInnes, Richard Hillier, Graham Rae and Alan MacPhee — were also appointed members of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Trust as part of the deal.
Mr MacInnes, Mr Rae and Mr MacPhee are all executives in the oil industry and are based in Abu Dhabi, Houston and Yemen respectively.
Mr Hillier is involved in finance and investments and lives in Switzerland.
All of them have homes in Inverness, where the fifth member of the consortium is based.
City businessman Richard Smith is the group’s public figurehead and joined the Caley Thistle board and the trust as part of the deal.
He said the group was in the process of putting together another investment which could possibly be finalised before the start of the next football season.
They join former Inverness provost Allan Sellar, MSP David Stewart and club president David Sutherland on the trust.
In September, Mr Sutherland — who was majority shareholder as head of the Tulloch Group — agreed to transfer his company’s shares to the trust as part of the investment agreement. He retains a personal stake of about two per cent.
"The new members are all local people who have developed successful business careers and have a very positive contribution to make to our club," said a trust spokesman.
"From a trust perspective, it is also important that we work, in conjunction with the club, to ensure that the team continues to play at the highest level.
"We have been positioned in the premier league for a number of years now and we welcome inward investment to Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC to enable them to continue to play in the top flight."
