Frankie 8,562 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30674489 The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team has made an £18m offer to buy a controlling stake in Rangers. Robert Sarver, an American financier, made the offer just after Christmas in an email to the Rangers International Football Club chairman David Somers. Sarver, 52, asked the board to call a general meeting to ask shareholders to approve the issuing of new shares. Subsequent share purchases by Douglas Park's group and Dave King make his bid unlikely to succeed as it stands. Sarver, who also owns the Phoenix Mercury Women's National Basketball team, submitted his offer at the same time to WH Ireland, who manage RIFC's listing on the Alternative Investment Market. The American, who is chief executive officer of Western Alliance Bancorporation, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was also prepared to spend an additional £15m to buy out any remaining shareholders should his offer have been accepted. Robert Sarver The Phoenix Suns website describes Robert Sarver as "a soccer dad" who enjoys watching his boys play for Junior Suns He was initially committed to buying 100% of Rangers, but with Park, George Letham and George Taylor now owning almost 20%, and King almost 15%, that is unlikely. At least another 15% is held by supporters who are unlikely to want to sell their shares. At least 75% of shareholders would have to agree to new shares being issued to a non-shareholder at a general meeting, after resolution nine was defeated at the annual general meeting in December. However, the BBC has learned that Sarver is prepared to work alongside fans' groups and other Rangers-supporting businessmen. "Sarver is a serious player with superb credentials," a source close to the deal told the BBC. "He is a very well-funded, long-term investor with an impeccable 30-year business pedigree. "He knows what it takes to make major sports clubs successful and would bring a tremendous track record to Rangers. "He has three sons who are all very keen footballers and he watches their games every weekend. "He is regarded as a straight-talking and very determined guy with a genuine passion for sport and an impressive record of success at the highest level of US sport and business. "Of course, he sees this as an exciting opportunity to invest in a major sporting institution, but given his involvement in the NBA, he fully realises that, without the broad support of fans, any proposals are doomed to failure. "For that reason he is very keen to build a broad-based coalition of fans' groups and prominent supporters who have the club's best long-term future at heart. "Sarver's previous involvement in major sports shows that the £33m would just be an initial investment. If you are going to rebuild a major club like Rangers and get it back to the very top of the game on a stable and sustainable basis, additional funding will be needed, alongside a strong, experienced and highly professional senior management team. "The response of the club's board to this proposal will be extremely important. If there is a genuine wish to act in the best long-term interests of the club, this should be a very straight-forward decision." Rangers declined to comment. Edited January 4, 2015 by Frankie 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon 1,288 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Just read this after seeing it on Twitter. This could be sensational for our club. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgacus 8 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 He'll run a mile once he sees the books! I may be cynical, but does this smell of Jack? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 sounds good to me maybe too good...? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 I suspect this has been put out to dampen the enthusiasm for other people's bid for control. No official comment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Richie Wilson says this isn't Irvine's work. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim1955 12 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Like Blue Moon I just saw this on twitter. I'm not sure what to make of it. I do have questions though. Should any bid not have been announced before now and the AIM informed? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Like Blue Moon I just saw this on twitter. I'm not sure what to make of it. I do have questions though. Should any bid not have been announced before now and the AIM informed? Possibly but only if the bid went beyond the informal stage. Doesn't seem to have happened ( so far at least). 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sounds like a Chuck Green moonbeam to me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,562 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 Sounds like a Chuck Green moonbeam to me. Normally I'd agree but the article author lends the claim some credibility. I suspect it's old news and was used to flush out King et al of late. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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