Ibrox chief is set to fight order over takeover bid

Dave King will fight a court action by the Takeover Panel which would force him into making an £11million offer to Rangers shareholders for their stake in the club.

a lengthy legal stand-off with Mike ashley’s Sports Direct over the ibrox retail deal ended with the previous contract being renegotiated and replaced on Wednesday.

Despite hailing the most significant day for the club since he swept to power, the repercussions of King’s March 2015 takeover rumble on.

The Rangers chairman worked with fellow supporters Douglas Park, george Letham and george Taylor — the so-called Three Bears — to acquire a 34-per-cent stake in the club.

The takeover code states, however, that any shareholder, or group of shareholders, exceeding 30-per-cent ownership of a company must make an offer for the remaining shares, as well.

King faces the possible sanction of a ‘cold shoulder’ from British financial institutions if he fails to comply with any order of compliance issued by the Court of Session, but he said: ‘absolutely, i am contesting it. it is just plain wrong and it won’t survive. it will have zero impact on Rangers.’

King disputed the findings of the Takeover Panel last year, arguing he was separate from new Oasis asset Limited, the British virgin islands trust which acquired his 14.5-per-cent shareholding in Rangers in 2015.

‘it is a shareholder issue,’ he added. ‘i can’t make an offer for the shares.

‘if they had said to my trust to make an offer, then the trust could do it.

‘They have the parties mixed up. i think it’s wrong and maybe they’ll fix it. But it doesn’t occupy my mind.

‘it is still before the Court of Session and that won’t be heard for a number of months.

‘The Takeover Panel is not even something i have thought about. For me, it is not an issue at this point in time.’

Buoyed by the renegotiation of a seven-year retail contract which handed Rangers seven pence from every pound of club merchandise sold, King believes a new 12-month deal will have a transformational effect on ibrox fortunes.

as Sportsmail revealed, ashley will also sell his 8.9-per-cent shareholding to supporters and an unnamed overseas investor as part of the deal.

The exit of the newcastle United owner effectively removes the final barrier to a rights issue and the repayment of soft loans from King and the Three Bears.

‘i think we are now in a position to proceed with a rights issue,’ said King. ‘We have struggled to get that 75 per cent because of the opposition from MaSH (Mike ashley Holdings Ltd).

‘i think it is fair to say that opposition will not be there going forward, which means that either at the agM coming up, or before, we will be able to get those resolutions through.’

King also rounded on the Crown Prosecution Service for the failure to secure a fraud conviction against former ibrox owner Craig Whyte.

a director when Whyte led the club to financial collapse, King travelled to glasgow to give evidence — before being told he wouldn’t be needed.

‘i was a bit astonished,’ he said. ‘When i came to give evidence, i was told the strategy had changed and they were not going to call me or alastair Johnston, Paul Murray — any of the former directors.

‘i was surprised as i felt having stayed on the board, the paper trail i had was quite important in terms of convicting him.

‘i assumed they knew what they were doing and had a strategy.

‘it’s very disappointing to see the manner in which it was prosecuted.

‘i think Police Scotland put together a good case but the Crown failed to prosecute it as well, as it had been prepared for them.’