Rangers owner ‘bewildered’ by ruling from Court of Session
stake. His takeover with fellow fans Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor saw King lead a boardroom coup to oust the Mike Ashley-influenced regime more than three years ago.
They said that breached the 30 per cent barrier that triggers a mandatory buyout offer according to UK rules. The panel took King to court last year after he flouted their demand that he offers 20p a share to purchase the remaining stake – a sum of about £11million. King’s lawyer told a hearing in the Court of Session last year that his client was “penniless” because his money was tied up in offshore and onshore trusts in the King family name. But in February this year, he was ordered to make the payment by the court and a month later it was revealed a company called Laird Investments (Proprietary) Limited would make the share payment. It was said Laird was a South Africabased company owned by a trust of which King and his family are beneficiaries.
The Takeover Panel document issued yesterday said they ordered King to have a third party UK account opened on Laird’s behalf so they had the “necessary cash confirmation”.
They said King later emailed them to say Laird was having difficulty negotiating South African “exchange control regulations” for transferring money out of the country and later asked for an extension of the deadline – something later refused by the Takeover Panel.
The panel went on to say that King missed the deadline for the money to be transferred and told how they had emailed King of “intention to initiate contempt proceedings” if that happened.
Last night, attempts were made to contact King through his business interests in South Africa.
Rangers Football Club declined to make a statement.
But a club insider said: “Dave King is bewildered by the ruling and has made it abundantly clear the funds are there to make the offer but because there is the insistence that the money be placed in the UK and because Mr King is a South African resident, there are exchange laws which must be observed.”