Club 1872 secure first tranche of shares from King
Rangers fan group complete initial step in former chairman’s £ 12m sale
CLUB 1872 have completed their first share purchase from former Ibrox chairman Dave King and agreed a flexible funding model that could see them invest directly into Rangers.
The supporter organisation revealed last month that they have agreed a £ 13 million deal to purchase King’s major shareholding in RIFC plc as they look to move beyond the 25 per cent shares threshold at Ibrox.
Club 1872 launched their “legacy campaign” alongside King last month and are targeting up to 20,000 members to allow them to raise the funds that will see
King hand over his shares throughout a three- year transaction.
Some supporters had been sceptical of the plans and instead wished funds to be invested into Rangers and Club 1872 have reached an agreement with King that would allow them to participate in any upcoming share issues that the Ibrox board wish to launch to raise fresh cash.
A Club 1872 statement read: “We fully understand that the announcement at the RIFC AGM – that the RIFC Board is to continue with shareholder funding of RIFC in 2021 – raised questions about where Club 1872 funds should be allocated. We have been clear from the launch of the campaign that, should RIFC require funds, our deal with Dave King was flexible enough to accommodate that. In fact, the RIFC board was approached prior to the AGM to secure their commitment that Club 1872 could participate if they decided to go down this route.
“We have spoken to Dave King over the festive break and are pleased to confirm that we have agreed with him that all share funding raised in the first six months of 2021, both from legacy and standard donations, can be made available to RIFC if they go ahead with a share issue on the terms that John Bennett announced at the AGM. We have also retained funds from our member contributions from 2020 to put towards any such share issue.
“If the RIFC share issue goes ahead then Dave King has agreed that he will add six months to our current agreement, meaning we will retain the opportunity to purchase shares from him for 20p for a full calendar year after the RIFC share issue window comes to an end.
“If the share issue does not go ahead for any reason then the funds can be used by Club 1872 to purchase shares from him as agreed. We thank Dave for his flexibility in this regard and for once again putting the financial wellbeing of Rangers first.”
The purchase of the first tranche of King’s shares – 1.25m of the 66m that he controls through New Oasis Asset Limited – is a significant early step for Club 1872 as they move above the five per cent mark in RIFC plc once again.
The supporter organisation hope to gain boardroom representation at Ibrox following the completion of the arrangement with King as supporters work towards a key influence in the running of their club and a veto that would safeguard Rangers.
The statement read:
“The deal with Dave King represents a hugely important strategic opportunity for Club 1872 over the next three to four years – it is likely to be the only major source of shares available to the organisation after the early part of this calendar year as RIFC moves to the sustainability phase announced by John Bennett at the RIFC AGM.
“It was therefore essential that Club 1872 kick this deal off as agreed last year and make a strong start to our three year campaign to attract legacy members. We are delighted to say that, in the couple of weeks our campaign was active prior to the Christmas break, we were able to sign up nearly 1500 new legacy members.”