Looks like the board room drama might be at a truce for now... John BUS tycoons the Easdale brothers marched into Ibrox yesterday for a summit with Walter Smith — and came out with a seat on the Rangers board. James Easdale, 42, who arrived with businessman brother Sandy, 45, is expected to be named as a club director in an official announcement today. However, under-fire ex-chairman Malcolm Murray will STAY on the board for now — despite efforts to oust him by a powerful group of shareholders. The deal was cut late last night and means a damaging extraordinary general meeting — a nightmare scenario for the club — will now NOT take place. Showdown ... board met at Ibrox A source said: “There’s been a week of tense talks and it’s been agreed that James will become a director. This has to be great news for fans as it will bring some much-needed stability over the summer.” The move comes after last month’s demand from major shareholders Blue Pitch Holdings to put Easdale and London-based investor Chris Morgan on to the board to push through a reform agenda at Ibrox. But as part of last night’s deal, Morgan will NOT become a director. And Phil Cartmell — a board member loyal to Murray who Blue Pitch wanted rid of — will also stay. Sandy and James — who own Greenock-based McGill’s buses — already have a significant stockholding in the Glasgow club. They now want to take on the bulk of former chief executive Charles Green’s stake to tighten their grip on the Light Blues. Under-fire Murray was accused of leaking secrets before Smith replaced him as chairman last week. Deal ... Sandy, left, and James arrive at Ibrox for crunch talks But an insider said: “Murray is a Rangers man and some of the board are reluctant to sacrifice him.” The Easdales have sparked controversy with their power grab because Sandy was jailed for 27 months in 1997 for a £1.5million VAT fraud. They aim to buy Green’s Rangers stake despite revelations he promised one-seventh of his shares to an Isle of Man-based hedge fund. Laxey Partners, run by Colin Kingsnorth, 49, has agreed to take 714,285 of Green’s shares. But that’s a 1.1 per stake, meaning Kingsnorth would not be classed as a major shareholder.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:40:23 +0000
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