Frankie 8,150 Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 IIRC, Rangers were due a dividend from Rangers Retail in December - not sure if it was paid or not. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBlue 0 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 £10m loan from the Fat Controller: BBC Scotland has learned that the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is ready to provide a loan of about £10m to Rangers but wants security of Ibrox Stadium and the club's Murray Park training ground. The so-called Three Bears consortium, led by the businessman Douglas Park, is believed to have offered a counter loan of about half that amount. That group wants two seats on the club board and security over Murray Park. However, it is thought the Rangers board feel the £5m loan is not enough. The club needs a major injection of cash within the next few weeks just to continue as a going concern. Rangers released a statement last year assuring fans that the club's stadium would never be used as security. Negotiations between the board and the Park consortium, comprising Park, George Letham and George Taylor, have been ongoing since they took their shareholding in the company to about 20% at the end of last year, but so far no agreement has been reached. The board are understood to favour a joint funding package including cash from Ashley, who has already provided a total of £3m in loans. Murray Park The Murray Park training ground at Auchenhowie has six full-size pitches among its list of facilities Rangers have paved the way for the acceptance of Ashley's loan by lodging advance notices of security against Ibrox and Murray Park on behalf of Sports Direct, Ashley's sportswear company. The notices of security, lodged with the Register of Scotland on 15 January, mean that only Sports Direct can be granted security on the properties for a 35-day period. They also have the effect of making it impossible, for the next 35 days, to accept the security condition of the Three Bears' offer. The Murray Park training ground, which opened in 2001, is situated at Auchenhowie, just outside Glasgow. The group would look to convert their loan funding into equity at a later date, but this avenue is not open to Ashley after the Scottish Football Association rejected the Newcastle United owner's request for permission to raise his stake in the club above 10%. As well as chairman David Somers' assertion that Ibrox would never be used as security against a loan, Brian Kennedy's request for it was denied when he offered a £3m emergency loan late last year. The Ibrox directors instead opted for a £2m loan - later raised to £3m - from Ashley, who owns 8.92% of Rangers. His long-time associate Derek Llambias has since been appointed chief executive at Ibrox while Barry Leach left his role as an executive at Sports Direct to become finance director at the club. "The board has given public assurances that Ibrox would not be used for any type of security," said Chris Graham of the Rangers Supporters Trust. "We will be liaising with other shareholders to see what legal remedies are available. This is precisely why we campaigned so hard to protect our stadium. "It is quite clear that Mr Llambias and Mr Leach are only in place to ensure that Mike Ashley retains power. "This board has to be removed immediately and the fans have to make their feelings known in the strongest possible terms. This is the final straw." Rangers have yet to comment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Dynamo 128 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Forgive my ignorance Is this something the board had to have signed off on prior to applying? Or could Sports Direct just apply for it then seek board approval? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davie P 4 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I think you have a point mate. Looks like my mistake - I believe it is actually Rangers Retail. So that would actually mean only 300k into the coffers with the balance being retained by the other shareholder in RR i.e. Sports Direct! How can Charles Green not be prosecuted for totally failing in his fiduciary duties, is beyond me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,245 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 (edited) Forgive my ignorance Is this something the board had to have signed off on prior to applying? Or could Sports Direct just apply for it then seek board approval? From the above report: Rangers have paved the way for the acceptance of Ashley's loan by lodging advance notices of security against Ibrox and Murray Park on behalf of Sports Direct, Ashley's sportswear company. The club apparently needs to ask whether they can make Ibrox and/or Auchenhowie available for security first, with an attached info to whom it will be given. As someone on FF posted: Ashley won't own Ibrox et al, he could just force us to sell it in the event of non payment of any loan. He'd have the club not only by the balls, but much more - at least as long as the loan runs. How he thinks that this will be handled by the SFA is anyone's guess. Maybe he simply wants this ace in his hands before he shifts the power to the good guys, bolstering him against any future claims and debates? Edited January 15, 2015 by der Berliner 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little General 80 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Has Ashley done a deal with Whyte over security of Ibrox? otherwise how can he get security with Whyte's claim over it? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoodyBlue 0 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Brian Kennedys' reaction to todays news: BRIAN KENNEDY has urged Mike Ashley to make Ibrox sacrosanct. The Sales Sharks owner - whose £3m crisis loan was rejected by the Rangers board in favour of an agreement with Ashley in November - spoke to Record Sport this morning after it emerged that the Sports Direct magnate has lodged papers to have his company’s name added to the stadium’s title deeds . It’s believed Ashley wants security over the ground in return for yet another round of emergency cash and that this latest move indicates the board’s intention to knock back an alternative funding offer from a consortium of wealthy fans, including Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor. Kennedy, however, suspects the regime is simply ‘hedging its bets’ as it attempts to find a way of avoiding insolvency. And he believes the Rangers support would be a lot less hostile to Ashley’s proposals if the Newcastle owner promised to protect their spiritual home at all costs. He said: “We’ve got to be rational, it’s very easy to take a kick at Mike Ashley but the bottom line here is that, if the club doesn’t get funds immediately, it will go into administration. “The business is running out of money right now so the first priority of the board is to survive. Plain and simple. In order to do that they must find someone who is prepared to put in the funds which allows them to pay the bills. “There are only two options open to them - one is the Douglas Park consortium and one is Mike Ashley. I imagine what they are doing is keeping both of these options in play for as long as possible. If there is only one option left to them then it puts them in a very weak bargaining position. “I can understand why Ashley’s offer is secured against Ibrox because I wanted to do the same thing when I offered the club money in November. The key difference was that my offer was conditional upon Ibrox being placed in a trust. I wanted to ensure it was secured for the best long term interest of the club. I made it clear that Ibrox Stadium would only ever be used as a place for Rangers Football Club to play football. “If Ashley was prepared to make such a pledge then perhaps there would not be such feelings of anxiety and hysteria among the Rangers fans. Without this kind of guarantee I can completely understand their reaction. They are being treated with absolute contempt. “But, even so, I do believe that the board is simply hedging its bets at the moment. They have an offer on the table from Douglas Park and his group and now, if that funding does not come through for whatever reason, they at least have an offer from Ashley to fall back on. “Given that the only other option is administration then it’s probably not such a bad move.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...ashley-4983421 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangersitis 0 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Has Ashley done a deal with Whyte over security of Ibrox? otherwise how can he get security with Whyte's claim over it? The deal was done a long time ago. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmu 0 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 No sane bear should be stepping inside Ibrox on Friday night - even if they already have a ticket !!! TOTAL boycott !!!! absolutely agree. also to add no one should be going to the celtic semi. the clamour for tickets that game is what keeps these bastards believing that when we get back up that like sheep we will just trot along to every game because of the celtic rivalry and the cash will start rolling in again. they need the message that there will be nothing coming in if they don't do one... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charltonman 19 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 I wonder if Mike Ashley is going to keep his shareholding at the same level to stay under the SFA rules , but get RIFC to issue Corporate Bonds instead of shares . He could buy them and be effectively the owner through the terms of the loan , have his small shareholding so he stayed on the right side of SFA and that'd be us done up . 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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