King in Rangers shares battle
He defies Takeover Panel order to issue £11m buyout offer Fears over damage to club as court threat hangs over chairman
DAVE KING is in hot water after flouting Takeover Panel rules.
The Rangers chairman failed to meet yesterday’s deadline to launch an £11million offer to buy the rest of the club’s shares.
DAVE KING could be dragged into yet another high-profile battle against the authorities after effectively choosing to stick two fingers up at the Takeover Panel yesterday.
The Rangers chairman is in hot water after flouting an order to launch an £11million offer to buy out the rest of the club’s remaining shares as a penalty for breaching strict financial rules when he succeeded in ousting the previous regime two years ago.
The authorities ruled King was leading a “concert party” when he
WILLIE COLLUM has been handed the Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final showdown.
The referee will take charge of the fixture at Hampden a week on Sunday while the other semi-final between Aberdeen and Hibs will be in the hands of John Beaton.
Collum has not handled an Old Firm clash since October last year when he sent off Rangers defender Philippe Senderos in a 5-1 triumph for Celtic at Parkhead.
teamed up with a group of fellow fans known as the Three Bears – George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor – to hoover up 30 per cent of the club’s shares and boot Mike Ashley’s allies out of the Ibrox boardroom.
After losing a longrunning appeal against that decision last month, King was given a 30-day deadline to offer to buy all remaining shares at a price of 20p. But that deadline came and went yesterday afternoon without King meeting the watchdog’s demands.
While there will be no punitive repercussions for the club, sources in London expect the Takeover Panel to react angrily to King’s defiant stand. At the very least they could effectively render him a pariah in the financial world, causing further damage to the reputation of his club.
But they could also seek a court order to force King’s hand. Should that happen, he could then face a contempt of court charge unless he stumps up enough cash to cover the cost of a possible buy-out.
King’s legal team do not expect such a fierce reaction. But a source at the Takeover Panel said: “The panel has various powers when it comes to enforcement and we must now wait and see what happens. It’s fair to say this is not a normal set of circumstances
“People usually comply more promptly so it’s fair to assume this will be treated in a serious fashion.”
King has already publicly questioned the logic of the decision to boot out his appeal. He is adamant the vast majority of shareholders would have no interest in taking up the offer of 20p per share.
But a source said: “It’s not as easy as saying the fans don’t want to sell their shares. In order to establish this legally, King would have to spend enormous sums in hiring the services of a financial firm in London. That could be anywhere between £500,000 and £1m.
“On top of that, King would have to deposit another £11m into an account to cover the cost of all eventualities as, in the worst-case scenario that 100 per cent of shareholders took him up on it, that is the amount required to underwrite the entire offer.”
King reacted to last month’s appeal defeat by insisting he would take time to weigh up his options and hold talks with supporters’ groups before deciding on his next move.
He was also scathing of the entire process and blamed it on a complaint from former chairman David Somers, who he claimed was acting against the best interests of the club in a desperate attempt to cling to power.
King said: “It is my belief the takeover appeal board has not understood the true nature of what occurred at Rangers and the tremendous role that the activism of supporters played in ensuring regime change.
“I am only one of a vast number of Rangers supporters and shareholders who fought to rescue our club. The club should never have become caught up in a takeover struggle. Those who placed it in that position