Dave King wants the 49ers Enterprises' takeover of Rangers to be his lasting legacy at the club as he prepares to sell his major shareholding at Ibrox.
It was reported earlier this week that King was prepared to offload his stake to the American consortium that is headed by Paraag Marathe.
The sale will be one of a number of deals that will eventually see 49ers Enterprises rise to power and all but clear out the current Ibrox boardroom.
When John Bennett stepped down from his role as Rangers chairman in September last year due to health reasons, King offered to return to the top of the table.
Read more:
A move never came to fruition, however, with Fraster Thornton filling Bennett's boots after John Gilligan spent a brief spell as interim chairman.
King, who is based in South Africa, has been meeting with potential investors over the past few months in order to drive rejuvenating change at Rangers both on and off the pitch. Marathe and an as-yet-unnamed investor are now set to become the main powerbrokers at Ibrox as a result of said talks.
It will be King's final act as a shareholder as he looks to leave a lasting legacy at Ibrox and kickstart sweeping changes.
The 69-year-old recently spoke out on the current situation. He told the Rangers Review: "I am on record as stating that I offered to return as chairman for a limited two-year period to restore the proper operational structures at the club and to find a new and substantial anchor investor that could take the club forward with stability rather than the present 'cap in hand' approach to funding. The board rejected my offer of assistance as it was entitled to do.
"I also stated that I believe that the present investors have 'investment fatigue' and that any new investor should be of unquestionable wealth to not only inject much-needed funds into the club immediately but also have funds in reserve to support the rebuilding program that will be required both on and off the pitch.
"Given that the Club had made it clear that I had no further role to play I thought it would be a fitting legacy if I sought out potential investors that met my criteria and who could buy out some of the existing shareholders (such as me) who no longer have a role to play and then inject new funds to become a new anchor shareholder.
"Such an investor would also need to be acceptable to supporters and to have the appropriate skills set to take our unique club forward. It was extremely unlikely to find such an investor in Scotland (which is why I was pulled into the regime all those years ago).
"After 'kissing many frogs' I finally identified two possibilities - one of which was introduced by an ex-colleague. Both met my criteria and I engaged with them accordingly.
"The initial engagement required discussions with the principals to understand why they wanted to invest, confirming proof of funds from their bankers for the level of investment I think is needed over the next few years, and establishing what a potential deal might look like. After the initial high-level discussions, I had an initial preferred investor so I put the other one on hold by agreement. "I then, over a period of time, engaged with individual shareholders and directors to try to get broad consensus on a deal that might be done and that I felt I could support personally and that I thought supporters would support.
"That point was reached and more formal discussions ensued between the potential investor and the board as a collective. Discussions have proceeded in a constructive manner but a deal has not yet been finalised and the parties remain bound by confidentiality.
"Much of what has been written in the press is speculative and incorrect. At this time no deal has been concluded with any investor."
