Timeline: Rangers flotation on the London stock exchange

Published on 11/10/2012 09:37

Rangers today announced that they are to float on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. It has bee a long jouney for Charles Green’s consortium since buying the assets of the ‘oldco’ Rangers following their slide into administration.

Here we look at the key developments over the past year which have lef to today’s announcement.

February 13 - Rangers lodge their intention to go into administration at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

February 14 - Rangers appoint administrators Duff and Phelps after a court battle with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They are immediately docked 10 points by the Scottish Premier League, leaving them 14 behind Celtic.

Duff and Phelps reveal that HMRC lodged their petition to take Rangers into administration over the non-payment of about £9million PAYE and VAT since Craig Whyte’s 2011 takeover.

February 17 - The Scottish Football Association launch an independent inquiry into the activities of Rangers, specifically whether Whyte is fit and proper to hold a position in the game.

March 2 - The SFA confirm they will investigate claims made by former Rangers director Hugh Adam that payments made to players were not disclosed to the governing body.

March 5 - The SPL confirm that their board have instigated an investigation into the alleged non-disclosure of payments made to players by Rangers, which prompts the SFA to drop their case.

March 8 - The SFA declare Whyte is unfit to hold a position in football and confirm that the club is facing a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

March 9 - Rangers administrators announce a package of wage cuts with players that prevent substantial job losses.

March 15 - The SFA issue Rangers with notices of complaint over alleged breaches of five disciplinary rules and Whyte over two alleged breaches.

April 4 - Duff and Phelps confirm they have received four bids for the club.

April 23 - Rangers receive a 12-month embargo on signing players and owner Craig Whyte is banned for life.

May 3 - American businessman Bill Miller granted preferred bidder status ahead of the Blue Knights consortium.

May 8 - Miller withdraws bid for Rangers.

May 11 - The Blue Knights withdraw their interest in buying Rangers after their noon ultimatum to Duff and Phelps passes.

May 13 - Administrators announce they have signed a binding contract to sell the club to a consortium led by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green.

May 16 - An SFA appeal tribunal rejects Rangers’ appeal against a £160,000 fine and 12-month transfer embargo.

May 29 - The SFA transfer ban is ruled unlawful in the Court of Session following a challenge from Rangers. Duff and Phelps publish Green’s Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposal to creditors.

May 30 - SPL clubs take on responsibility for deciding whether ‘newco’ clubs should be admitted to the competition but reject fixed penalties.

May 31 - Rangers’ administrators provide files requested by SPL in their investigation into undisclosed payments.

June 12 - HMRC announce they will reject the CVA offer and force the club into liquidation.

June 14 - Green completes purchase of Rangers assets and business following the club’s liquidation, hours after a consortium led by former manager Walter Smith makes a late bid.

June 15 - Ally McCoist ends speculation about his future at the club following a meeting with Green.

June 18 - SPL confirm a vote on whether to admit newco Rangers to the league will take place on July 4, with provisional fixture list to be released replacing Rangers with ‘Club 12’.

June 19 - Smith’s group officially end attempts to get Green to sell the club on to them, with Smith having also rejected an invite from Green to join the board.

June 22 - Meanwhile, a judge at Edinburgh’s Court of Session orders a full report into allegations of a conflict of interest for club administrators Duff and Phelps.

June 24 - Scotland internationals Steven Whittaker and Steven Naismith reject a transfer to the newco and claim they are now free agents. Whittaker later signs for Norwich, with Naismith heading for Everton.

June 25 - The Crown Office instruct Strathclyde Police to conduct a criminal investigation into Whyte’s takeover and the subsequent financial management of the club.

June 26 - Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, Kyle Lafferty, Jamie Ness, Rhys McCabe, Sone Aluko, John Fleck and Juan Manuel Ortiz complete the list of players declining to transfer their contracts to newco Rangers. Lafferty duly signs for FC Sion and Ness for Stoke.

July 4 - Clydesdale Bank Premier League clubs vote “overwhelmingly’’ to reject the newco Rangers application after more than five hours of talks at Hampden.

July 13 - Rangers will start the new season in the Irn-Bru Third Division following a vote by Scottish Football League chairmen at Hampden. Twenty-nine of the 30 SFL clubs accepted Rangers as an associate member of the Scottish Football League while 25 clubs voted in favour of placing the newco team into the bottom tier.

July 20 - Rangers accept a 12-month transfer ban, beginning on September 1, as a condition of gaining membership of the Scottish Football Association.

July 27 - Rangers are granted conditional Scottish Football Association membership in time to allow them to play against Brechin in the Ramsdens Cup.

September 10 - Rangers announce they will refuse to attend a scheduled hearing of a Scottish Premier League-appointed commission into alleged undisclosed payments by the Ibrox club.

October 4 - The Scottish Football Association judicial panel delivers a verdict of not proven after Green was accused of two charges of bringing the game into disrepute and failing to act in the best interest of football.

October 11 - Rangers confirm they will seek admission to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the Stock Exchange with a view to raising £20million.

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