4 Lads DK Interview - Chris Jack Articles

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DAVE KING has offered to delay his share sale to Club 1872 and allow fans to put their money straight into Rangers if the Ibrox board require external investment in the coming years.

The former Gers chairman has agreed a £13million deal with Club 1872 that will see them purchase his major stake in RIFC plc and become the largest shareholders at Ibrox.

Critics of the blueprint have pointed to the fact that none of the money raised by supporters will benefit Rangers as King is paid an average of 20p per share on his 20.37 per cent stake.

The South Africa-based businessman is committed to handing over his major influence at Ibrox to the fans to protect Rangers for generations to come, but will alter his plans if the board require funds donated by supporters to be used by the club.

“Regarding the comment about whether the money should go into the club or not,” King told the Four Lads Had a Dream Podcast.

“At the last board meeting that I chaired earlier this year, which was at the end of March, the position of the board, and I believe remains, that after the current share conversion that is being finalised at the moment is completed, that there is not the intention for further share issues.

“If such is required in the future, it will certainly not be at 20p. Therefore, to my knowledge, the opportunity for Club 1872 to acquire the shares at this level is not going to exist.

“I would go a step further and say, for example, that if the club decide they would like access to the £13million, I would be happy that if the club gave an unconditional undertaking to Club 1872, that over the next three years it would allow it to acquire shares directly in the club and the money goes into the club.

“I would be willing to delay this deal with Club 1872 for another three or four years because I have no intention to sell. All it would take is the Club to turn round to Club 1872 and say ‘we will issue you shares over the next three years for all the money you raise’ and that could solve it from that point of view.

“My understanding is that the club is not going to do that, does not want to do that and that the club, in future share issues, will be looking to do it at levels far higher than 20p.”

Fans have been asked to donate £500 as part of the ‘legacy member’ scheme that has been launched by Club 1872 to allow them to raise the funds required to complete the deal with King.

Shares will be purchased in tranches and Club 1872’s stake will rise as more supporters sign up and King is eager to see the fans make the most of the chance to move above the crucial 25 per cent threshold.

King said: “My consideration of the issue was how can I take my shareholding and ensure, if I wasn’t around, that it would end up in safe hands? I think the safe hands should be the supporters and in my view Club 1872 is the right supporter group.

“They have got good representation, they are already the sixth largest shareholder, and I see it being right for the club going forward.

“I think it is right for the supporters to have a responsible group like Club 1872 representing them and certainly in my experience of dealing with them, it would be a strong preference for Club 1872 to be successful.

“I repeat, if for whatever reason we couldn’t do this deal at the end of the three years, I would keep it open for Club 1872 as long as they were making meaningful progress. I really believe this is the right thing for the club.”

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DAVE KING passed the baton to Douglas Park. Now the finishing line is in sight for him at Ibrox.

King has almost run his race at Rangers as he prepares to cut what remains of his ties and sell his major shareholding in RIFC plc. He is content for those that he leaves behind to lead the charge for the medals in the coming years.

The announcement last week that King was selling his 20.37 per cent stake to Club 1872 provoked an array of opinions, arguments and theories. In typical King fashion, he has an answer to each

On the topic of his relationship with the board that Park now chairs, King has no issue discussing the situation as he dismisses hearsay and conjecture of a breakdown in their communication and understanding in recent months.

“I certainly haven’t heard any rumours in that regard and there has been no fall-out between myself and the board,” King told the Four Lads Had a Dream Podcast. “I stepped down at the end of March, which was consistent with the statement that I made at the AGM to step down once we had the funding secured so that the legacy of the financial deficit that I had been party to incurring was properly squared away.

“At the time when I stepped down, I did say that Douglas did ask me at the end of March if I would consider extending my stay on the board to see the club through the Covid crisis. I said ‘Douglas, I just can’t do that’. There was an intention, from a board point of view, to keep me on the board a little bit longer.

“But I felt that the Covid crisis was a new crisis and probably best dealt with by those on the ground in Scotland given the travel restrictions. It was an issue that the people in Scotland should deal with. Plus, from my own perspective, I had some very challenging, and continue to do, times for my business in South Africa. I was not able to agree to the request of the board to extend beyond March.

“I think they were looking at it saying ‘it is another crisis, Dave, can you come and help us out with this?’ I just couldn’t do it, but I don’t think there was any falling out with that. It was just a request from the board that I was unable to comply with.”

The decision from King to sell his major shareholding to supporters has been viewed with suspicion in some quarters but a long-held belief is behind his plans.

If the £13million deal is completed, the crucial 25 per cent threshold will be reached and Rangers will be protected for generations to come. As King thinks into the future, he has no worries about the present.

“Not at all. Absolutely not,” King said when asked if there was any issue between himself and the board. “The board members… it is the same board that I chaired, the same individuals who were part of the recovery process and, as I see it, they have continued with that process and certainly, for my part, I am delighted with the way that the board has continued.

“The board are safe pair of hands for the club right now. But this is something for the future.

“We thought we had a safe pair of hands when David Murray was in charge and it didn’t turn out that way. So we have got to make sure that the supporters have a level of influence that is independent of the board at any given time.”

It is a week since the announcement was made and Club 1872 started the ball rolling on the process that asks fans to donate £500 as part of their ‘legacy membership’ scheme.

Rangers were informed of King’s plans on the eve of the launch, but no feedback was sought before then as the two parties reached consensus on a deal.

“No, this is a shareholder issue,” King said on whether he discussed this deal with the board beforehand

“From the time that I left the board, I have just been another shareholder, I have not had access to any information from any director given the affairs of the club.

“I am just another shareholder and this was a confidential discussion between myself and Club 1872. It was very tightly managed in terms of confidentiality because one knows in all things Rangers that these things can leak and develop a life of their own.

“We maintained very strong confidentiality between ourselves up until the time we reached agreement and were going to make the announcement. In advance of that, I let the board know as a courtesy that I was going to make an announcement.

“There was no discussion with the board and there was no reason to discuss it with the board. It is a shareholder issue, not a board issue.”

The influence and importance of King at Ibrox in recent years cannot be underestimated or understated. Now it is those that he served with that will lead Rangers into what he is sure will be a bright future after the most tumultuous years in their history.

His share sale is his parting gift to supporters, the final piece of his legacy. It is an opportunity he hopes those in the stands and boardroom make the most of.

King said: “Not only is there not a problem, but I would be very surprised if the Rangers board weren’t delighted at this development.

“I guess they would have some concern over what was going to happen with my shareholding some time in the future if I wasn’t around.

“I think what this has done is take away a lot of uncertainty and at least the board can now look forward and say ‘well, we now know where Dave’s shares are going to end up’. They are going to end up with the supporters.

“This board certainly is very alert to the fact that supporters have been key in getting the club back to where it is at the moment and very alert to the need to retain a close relationship with supporters and avoid the disconnect we saw from the Ashley/Easdale era.

“So I would be very surprised if any of the board members were not happy and didn’t welcome this initiative from me.”

*Dave King was speaking exclusively to the Four Lads Had a Dream podcast. For more information visit https://fourladshadadream.blog/ or @4ladshadadream on Twitter.

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18927220.amp/?ref=twtrec&__twitter_impression=true

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DAVE KING reckons Rangers have emerged from the 'jaws of death' by breaking free of Mike Ashley's influence at Ibrox.

The former Rangers chairman was involved in a lengthy and costly litigation battle with Sports Direct and their billionaire owner regarding the club's retail and merchandise operations following his boardroom coup in March 2015.

King stepped down from his position earlier this year and will now sell his major shareholding to supporter organisation Club 1872.

The war with Ashley was the key legacy issue that King inherited five years ago and it is only now that Rangers can look forward after a new long-term multi-million pound retail deal was struck with Castore earlier this season.

"Sports Direct was critical in the sense that the jaws of death that Mike Ashley had around the club were firmly locked through various legal relationships," King told the Four Lads Had a Dream Podcast.

"If we were unable to unlock that, then the club could not have made the progress it has made over the last couple of years.

"The dealing with Mike Ashley and Sports Direct was absolutely vital to getting to the position that we have reached today.

"I think from Mike Ashley’s point of view as well, the extent to which a businessman of that immense wealth and capability invested in Rangers and got involved in this indicates just how important it was to him as well. It was a fight that he wanted to win.

"The absurdity of him trying to put me in jail over Christmas for Contempt of Court for looking after Rangers’ interests indicates the depths and levels of, quite frankly, disgusting behaviour that Sports Direct went to to try and retain their grip on Rangers.

"It is absolutely vital that we have been able to release that completely, definitely and absolutely."

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DAVE KING expects Rangers to repay his £5million loan on time by next October as he looks to cut his financial ties to Ibrox.

The former chairman has struck an agreement with Club 1872 that will see the supporter organisation purchase his major shareholding in a £13million deal over the next three years.

King has been a major financial player at Ibrox in recent season and has invested tens of millions of pounds in shares and soft loans to fund the Rangers rebuilding job.

The businessman stepped down from the board in March but still has a £5million loan that is due to repaid late next year.

“That is correct and it is as I stated at the AGM last November,” King told the Four Lads Had a Dream Podcast.

“With me living in South Africa with exchange control restrictions, the exchange control authorities would not allow me to make any further direct investment into Rangers, who needed money at the time.

“The only way for me to advance money was on a loan basis, just because of the circumstances. I agreed to do that, it was a two-year loan and I think you are right, it is probably due around October 2021. It is within the club’s current cash requirements to repay that loan so I would expect it to be repaid on time.

“There is interest on that loan. Again, I as announced at the AGM, it was one of the points that I made at the AGM in terms of me reaching my useful life for the club.

“With my increasing restrictions and exchange control, it had become increasingly difficult to make interest free loans because they weren’t being approved by exchange control.

“I pointed out that I was a market interest rate, I think it was eight per cent, and that really reinforced to me, to some extent, the end of my time at Rangers.

“We had got into a stage where my money had helped get the club out of intensive care to a fairly robust and healthy patient. My time was up and it was time to pass it on to other people.”

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18927023.amp/?__twitter_impression=true&s=09