Rangers chief faces £11m bill for shares
RANGERS chairman Dave King is being forced to make an offer to buy remaining shares worth £11 million after the Takeover Panel ruled he and others acted together to force their way into the Ibrox boardroom.
A panel appeal has decided a formal takeover should have been triggered after a group led by Mr King secured more than 30 per cent of the voting rights in Rangers. That meant under the code of takeovers and mergers, they should make a cash offer to all other shareholders.
The group – which includes Park’s Motor Group founder Douglas Park, Rangers Supporters Trust and Rangers First member George Taylor and Rangers fan George Letham – has denied they had acted “in concert” to purchase shares in Rangers on December 31, 2014 and January 2, 2015, at a time when a board said to be allied to Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley was in place.
The Takeover Appeal Board has decided an obligation should be imposed on Mr King to make an offer for all the issued shares in Rangers not owned by him, Mr Letham, Mr Taylor and Mr Park at 20p a share by April.
Mr King said an original panel committee had “fundamentally misinterpreted” what had occurred at Rangers. But the appeal findings said: “Personal motives or reasons for gaining control of a company are not relevant when considering whether parties were acting in concert.”
Mr King later said he did not agree with the ruling.