A £6.5m package to rescue Rangers from financial meltdown has been made by a group of businessmen. George Letham, who loaned Rangers £1m to stave off cash problems in the past, and George Taylor, who bought 3.2% of the club early last month, have joined forces with Douglas Park, the coach and car magnate, to make an offer to the club that needs £8.3m just to survive the season. Their move came just after the close of a raucous and controversial annual general meeting on Monday. David Somers, Rangers chairman, announced to a hostile audience that a share issue would be proposed that could see the club saved from financial problems. The group then e-mailed an offer of £6.5m to purchase all of those 40,739,000 new shares in the equity issue which was outlined in resolutions eight and nine at the annual general meeting. This missive was sent to Mr Somers, WH Ireland, nominated advisors to Rangers, and to the club secretary. However, the club lost an attempt to disapply pre-emptive rights for the second consecutive year. The resolution nine, which would have given the board authority to issue shares to individuals without offering the same terms to existing shareholders, was defeated by a 55-45 majority. The board needed 75% backing to push the move through. This defeat was regarded as strengthening the position of Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, who has loaned £3m to the club and is seeking to increase his power at Ibrox. Derek Llambias, chef executive of Rangers and a close associate of Mr Ashley, approached the board of the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday to ask them to agree to the Sports Direct tycoon raising his stake in the club. The SFA and Mr Ashley had an agreement restricting the businessman to a stake of under 10% in the club but Mr Llambias proposed increasing that to of 29.9%. This was unanimously rejected. Sources close to the rescue package insist the SFA would have been aware that there was a viable alternative to Mr Ashley. It is understood that the £6.5m move from the three businessmen is independent of Dave King, the South African businessman, whose bid of £16m was rejected by Mr Somers, with the Rangers chairman insisting he needed proof of funds and the identity of investors. Instead, Mr Ashley provided a further loan to keep the club alive. Mr Letham, Mr Young and Mr Park have all held discussions with Mr King in the past as the Rangers saga has unfolded but this is seen as an independent move, with the obvious proviso that the South African-based businessman could come on aboard at a later date. With the failure of resolution nine and the blocking by the SFA of Mr Ashleys attempt to increase his shareholding, the Rangers board is now forced to look at other options and the consortium of three has made its move at a propitious time. This groups initial offer included them gaining two places on the board. This thought to be up for negotiation but it is unlikely that such an investment would be made without direct representation being part of the deal. A spokesman for the group said: We find it disturbing that resolution nine, which would have made it possible to issue shares for cash to new shareholders, failed to gain approval. Everyone knows the company is in dire need of fresh and significant investment and yet shareholders represented on the board decided to vote against investment from new shareholders. Presumably they believed the SFA would clear the way for Mike Ashley to increase his holding but we now know that this was not approved. The SFA would have been aware there is a credible alternative and we would like to make sure the fans are aware of that, too. He added: Our offer was based on resolution 9 being passed but this was blocked. However as existing shareholders we still believe it should be possible for us to gain a significant holding and are ready to invest in a new share issue Our money is in place, proof of funding has been shown to the chairman and the companys Nomad. We are trying our best to do what is right for Rangers and the supporters. Why on earth would anyone not want a hugely successful businessman like Douglas Park involved?
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 23:53:26 +0000
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