‘cold-shouldered’ for takeover breach
Rangers chairman
RANGERS chairman Dave King has been severely sanctioned by the UK’s financial watchdog for flouting strict rules in his 2015 takeover of the club.
The businessman has been ‘coldshouldered’ for four years, which means UK companies cannot work with him on any other takeovers.
It is only the fourth time such a punishment has been issued by the Takeover Panel in its 50-year history, reflecting an offence of the ‘utmost gravity’.
But South Africa-based King, who is not appealing against the ruling, said it would have no effect on Rangers.
In its ruling, the Takeover Panel said ‘a statement of public censure would not be a sufficient sanction’.
It found that King had acted ‘in concert’ with George Letham, George Taylor and Douglas Park to acquire more than 30 per cent of Rangers shares.
He then failed to comply with legislation which compels those holding 30 per cent or more of shares to make an offer to other shareholders to buy their stock. The Panel said King’s behaviour ‘shows a clear propensity to disregard the [City Code on Takeovers and Mergers] and to comply with its rules only when forced to do so by enforcement proceedings in the courts’.
It concluded, however, that King’s conduct was motivated not by financial gain but ‘solely for the love of the club’.
In a statement on the Rangers website, King insisted the side would not suffer as a result of the judgment.
He said parent company Rangers International Football Club plc (RIFC) and its subsidiary Rangers Football Club Ltd were unaffected by the ruling, as was his position as chairman and a director of RIFC. King said: ‘This allows myself, RIFC and its shareholders to draw a line under this long and much protracted saga.
‘Rangers supporters already know my problems with the Takeover Panel arose directly as a result of the steps I took to protect and safeguard Rangers Football Club from the forces that were bent on destroying it at that time.’
King added that he had strong grounds for appeal but, because the ruling applied only to his dealings with UK companies, he had decided against it.
‘Despite this latest sanction (and having to spend more than £1million in litigation costs) I have no regrets whatsoever that I chose to follow this path,’ he said.
‘The present resurgent state of Rangers is sufficient reward for me.’