From the Grauniad:
'Ken Bates's hopes of securing the Football League share for his new company Leeds United 2007 appeared more distant yesterday after the league and HM Revenue and Customs declared their opposition to his most recent takeover of the club.
'Customs & Revenue had already challenged through the high court the result of a previous sales process arranged by the administrator, KPMG, that saw the consortium led by the former Chelsea chairman win control of Leeds.
'That was a company voluntary agreement (CVA) in which Bates's company proposed to pay 8p in the pound to all creditors. KPMG responded by organising a second bidding process that Bates again won, with an offer that amounted to 52.9p in the pound to creditors.
'The key to winning the bid was that Astor Investment Holdings, a company that insisted it had no existing formal connections to Bates, withdrew its claim for £17.6m owed to it by Leeds. The administrator had been satisfied by Astor's solicitor, Mark Taylor - himself a director of Leeds United 2007 - that no connections existed.
'However, Customs & Revenue yesterday said it was not satisfied by the sales process. "We are not prepared to enter into any arrangement that lacks complete transparency about the identity of creditors and the terms of any deal being reached," said Dave Hartnett, a director-general of business at the revenue.
'The Football League has meanwhile been working to persuade the administrator and Leeds United to reinstate the CVA process.
'Meetings have been taking place this week involving the chairman of the Football League, Lord Mawhinney, Leeds and senior officials from KPMG.
'Mawhinney claimed yesterday that his demand to reinstate the CVA had been approved by the two other parties to the negotiations. "We have got to resolve it soon because the season starts in nine days' time," he said.
'But the league will not hand over the share to Bates's company - which would provide it with the players' registrations - without the approved CVA.
'"One of the issues [the parties have] been wrestling with is that the administrators have sold to [Bates's] Leeds United 2007 certain assets and liabilities, including Elland Road and the players' contracts," said Mawhinney.
"The players' registration remains with the old club, which is in administration. The registrations are a relationship between us and the club.'