Claims that Rangers are on the brink of a multi-million-pound takeover appear to be wide of the mark.
Thats according to The Rangers Review who spoke with former chairman Dave King about the prospect following reports on Tuesday that suggested a £150million valuation had been placed on Rangers by potential suitors that were keen to take a seat on the Ibrox board.
King’s stance is the story has “no truth whatsoever” and it’s understood key stakeholders have not been contacted about selling their shares.
Amid the latest developments at RIFC plc, King remains the primary shareholder, holding a significant 14.12 percent of the company’s shares.
Meanwhile, the current Ibrox chief, Bennett, oversees a 5.51 percent stake. Other key figures in the organization include Douglas Park, George Taylor, Stuart Gibson, and Julian Wolhardt, who are all influential players working behind the scenes.
“There is no truth whatsoever to the rumour that a USA billionaire - or anyone - has expressed any interest in acquiring Rangers,” King told the Rangers Review.
“The Club is going through a difficult phase that was largely self-inflicted and commenced with Douglas Park refusing to back Steven Gerrard’s ambition to kick on from title 55.
"Self-interest should never be put ahead of our Club. I am hoping that John Bennett turns things around. I know he will do everything in his power to do so.”
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A proposed acquisition by Kylie Fox and KRF Capital fell through last year, leading to Rangers securing a significant legal victory over the American entrepreneur.
Fox was aiming to acquire a 75% controlling interest at Ibrox, but a report from City AM on Tuesday indicated that she is not involved with the new group exploring bids for minority stakes.
Speculation about a potential boardroom shakeup at Ibrox arises as Bennett prepares to finalise the last transactions of the summer transfer window to enhance Philippe Clement’s team.
Rangers, who have already failed to reach the Champions League league phase, are still seeking new players before the deadline on Friday night.
In recent months, Bennett has been reviewing the finances and all operational sectors to reduce expenses following years of financial excess at Ibrox. At last year's AGM, the chairman emphasized the need to achieve £10.5 million in cost saving
“I very deliberately called out a number at the AGM and it is not an overstatement to say that becoming chairman my number one mission off the pitch was to rid the club of pre-player trading losses,” Bennett told RangersTV last month.
“And I called that out at the AGM. That number to June 2023 was £10.5m, that's unsustainable and we should talk about sustainability, Financial Fair Play etc. That right there is wholly unsustainable and I said that has to go away. You can't just will things to go away, it takes action.
“I look at that and that is well on the way to being eradicated and that has taken a lot of work from a lot of people and I have driven that, I have driven hard and it has been hard on some people, for example, to drive that through and execute it. But execute it we must. I'm not having club, which we'll come to player trading, and the famed player trading model we need to address that, but first get after what I call low-hanging fruit.
“This club should not be losing £10.5m pre-player trading in a year, my goodness me. When I became chairman - and again it is not an overstatement to say this required cultural change.”
