Former chairman Dave King has revealed the agreement for Club 1872 to purchase his Rangers shares has now been brought to an end.
The supporter group completed their first share purchase from King back in 2021 after a a £13million deal had been struck with King to purchase his major shareholding within the Scottish Premiership side. The end goal was to see the organisation gain more than 25 per cent of shares, giving Rangers fans a voice in the running of the club, and allow the group a stronger standing in future share issues.
However, King has now revealed plans to allow Club 1872 more time to complete the purchase have proved "futile" with the financial sums paid out by December 2022 falling well short of the initial agreement. In a lengthy statement, the former Ibrox supremo put the blame for the failed move towards a greater say in the club down to a number of reasons including "the club’s recent campaign against Club 1872 and its officers".
King wrote: “It is with disappointment that I advise that the agreement for Club 1872 to acquire my shareholding in Rangers has been terminated. This year was to be the final year of the agreement and despite my previously stated intentions to extend the agreement (to provide Club 1872 with more time) it has become clear that this will be futile.
"A review of the share purchases undertaken last month reveals that the take-up for the two years to December 2022 is so far short of the agreed amounts that further extensions will not have any meaningful impact in the next few years.
"When I initiated the Never Again campaign I had hoped that supporters would take advantage of my offer to become the largest shareholder in the club but this never materialised despite the efforts of myself and Club 1872 to promote this campaign. My feedback on the possible reasons for this are:
- Some supporters prefer to own shares directly.
- Some supporters would support joint fan ownership but not within Club 1872.
- The difficult economic conditions. Supporters no longer feel the club is under threat.
- The club’s recent campaign against Club 1872 and its officers.
"I think that a combination of the above is correct and will remain as such for the foreseeable future. Over the last few weeks I have considered whether my dream of supporter ownership could be achieved by extending the offer to other supporter groups in addition to Club 1872 but there is no indication that this will make a material difference.
"In addition, the club’s success with its restrictive resolution at the recent AGM imperils any would-be shareholder. I will continue to vote my shareholding as a supporter and in the best interests of the club.”
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