Dave King ready to accept £2.3 million loss as he agrees to sell his Rangers shareholding to Club 1872

Former Rangers chairman Dave King has revealed he is happy to make a personal loss in excess of £2 million by selling his shares to supporters group Club 1872 as he sees it as another investment in the Ibrox club’s recovery.

Dave King at the Rangers AGM in November 2019 when he announced his intention to step down as chairman of the Ibrox club. (Photo by Paul Devlin/ SNS Group)

The South Africa-based businessman, who formally stepped down from the Rangers board in March, has agreed to sell his 20.37 per cent holding – the biggest at the club – to Club 1872 who currently have a stake of 4.95 per cent.

King believes the value of his holding is 50p per share but has agreed a price of 23.7p per share for the deal over a three-year period or just 20p per share if Club 1872 attract the 20,000 members they require in time to complete it before December next year.

“I haven’t actually done the calculations, but I would guess it’s a loss of around £2.3 million,” said King who initially served on the Rangers board during Sir David Murray’s tenure then returned to force a boardroom coup in 2015.

“I’ve invested over £40 million in the club in total through the years but with the second investment (in 2015), I was clear from day one - and in my farewell speech at the last AGM - that I reluctantly got involved again.

“But it was very clear at the time that the local Scottish contingent of business people were not able to put together sufficient resources to take control of the club and restore it to where we wanted it to be.

“So I very reluctantly got involved but from my perspective it gives me satisfaction to have been associated with the club through the difficult times we have had and see it competing for Scottish titles and competing in Europe again.

“Having worked with Club 1872, I feel I have an opportunity now to deliver a level of influence to supporters going forward. If I take a small financial knock of a couple of million pounds, I’m happy that’s just a further contribution to the restoration of the club.

“I’m really hoping the supporters do get together and understand this is a genuine once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start to take ownership and be the biggest influencer in the club going forward.”

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