RANGERS’ American takeover talks have captured the imaginations of the Ibrox support.
And captured the attention of Scottish football.
Rangers fans welcomed the prospective buy-out with American flags[/caption]
American investor Andrew Cavenagh was spotted at Old Trafford with Gretar Steinsson and Paraag Marathe (L) of 49ers Enterprises when Rangers played Man Utd[/caption]
Dave King is Rangers has Rangers’ largest shareholding[/caption]
It resonated south of the border too – particularly in one corner of Yorkshire.
Stars and stripes were flown in the stands after news of San Francisco 49ers owners’ interest in Ibrox was revealed.
Since then more and more has gradually been learned, with the likes of Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe fronting up the incredible deal.
The initial agreement has been reached in pricnciple with the group, who also own the NFL franchise bearing the group’s name, as well as Premier League hopefuls Leeds United.
But now Rangers seem on the brink of joining the sporting stable and major shareholder Dave King has already given his green light to their plans.
The former chairman told Sunsport a deal with the 49ers would be a fitting legacy.
He said: “I am on record as stating that I offered to return as chairman for a limited two-year period to restore the proper operational structures at the club and to find a new and substantial anchor investor that could take the club forward with stability rather than the present ‘cap in hand’ approach to funding.
“The board rejected my offer of assistance, as it was entitled to do.
“I also stated that I believe that the present investors have ‘investment fatigue’ and that any new investor should be of unquestionable wealth to not only inject much-needed funds into the club immediately, but also have funds in reserve to support the rebuilding programme that will be required both on and off the pitch.
“Given that the club had made it clear that I had no further role to play, I thought it would be a fitting legacy if I sought out potential investors that met my criteria and who could buy out some of the existing shareholders, such as me, who no longer have a role to play and then inject new funds to become a new anchor shareholder.
“Such an investor would also need to be acceptable to supporters and to have the appropriate skillset to take our unique club forward.
“It was extremely unlikely to find such an investor in Scotland, which is why I was pulled into regime all those years ago.
“After kissing many frogs, I finally identified two possibilities – one of which was introduced by an ex-colleague. Both met my criteria and I engaged with them accordingly.”
Since then talks with 49ers and Cavenagh are believed to have progressed well and senior figures even took in last week’s incredible win over Fenerbahce.
Now, as the takeover edges closer to a potential summer conclusion there have been further developments.
Papers lodged at Companies House and published today (Monday) show 26,724,800 new shares in Rangers International Football Club plc allotted last month.
It follows a similar allotment of shares in January which was published last month.
That showed 18 million issued between December 20 and January 23 this year. However confusion reigned at the initial announcement which claimed the amount PAID was £18million.
Later on, a fresh version of the document appeared, this time with the CORRECT data.
In the updated file, the figure listed next to amount paid has changed from 18m to ‘0.2’ – meaning that each share cost 20p.
In short, 18million shares at 20p means the funds raised from the issuing of those shares equates to £3.6million with today’s latest issue worth almost £5.35m.
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