Buy £11million Rangers shares swiftly, Mr King
Judge warns Ibrox chairman over takeover buyout deal
A JUDGE yesterday told Rangers chairman Dave King he must “swiftly” complete a £11million buyout of club shareholders. King, 62, was hit by a legal action from the Takeover Panel after they accused him of breaching rules over the Ibrox side’s 2015 takeover. He failed to meet a March deadline to satisfy a court order to make the share offer. At the Court of Session in Edinburgh, judge Lord Bannatyne said: “The Takeover Panel has no interest in how (King) goes about this as long as it’s compliant. Not where he gets the money from, which trust he gets it from, how he transfers it. It’s a matter of complete disinterest to the Takeover Panel.”
Lord Bannatyne said King had been contacting the financial watchdog personally, which was “perhaps not an appropriate way to deal with the matter”. He recommended lawyers for both parties discussed resolutions – or a hearing would be fixed next month to determine if King had breached the court demand.
Last November, the Record told how the South Africanbased businessman said he couldn’t produce the “free funds” to make a share offer, with his assets tied up in offshore family trusts. In February, he was ordered to make the payment. King later said the company transferring the money to the UK were having difficulty negotiating South African “exchange control regulations”. A deadline extension was requested but refused by the Takeover Panel.
David Johnston QC, representing the Takeover Panel, told the court: “The reality is that no offer has been made.”
He added that “nothing had been done since late April” and said: “There is no reason to believe active steps are being taken in response to the order of the court.”