RANGERS FIRST have become the eighth largest investors at Ibrox after completing a deal to buy almost 600,000 shares in Rangers.
The group are attempting to purchase shares from shareholders seeking to cash in at present, and director Ricki Neill insists the Easdale brothers, Sandy and James, only need to pick up the phone if they want to sell off their shareholding to the fans group.
Rangers First now own around 2.6million shares in Rangers International Football Club plc after increasing their stake to 3.21% with a six-figure deal. The acquisition is another significant step for Rangers First, a Community Interest Company formed two years ago, and Neill is delighted to have made a sizeable purchase as the group have once again increased their influence in the Light Blues.
“We have bought another 586,000 shares,” he told Herald Sport. “We are serious investors and we will say to individuals ‘if you want to sell your shares, come and talk to us and we will buy them from you’.
“We have got money here. It has been harder to buy shares recently but we have got guys working away in the background and contacting people asking if they are interested in selling. This shareholder wanted to sell and we bought them.
“Our next goal is to get to 5%. We have got money in the bank to buy shares just now and we will keep some for any future share issue as well. A lot of members have been asking what we are doing and we have been working hard. It is a great deal for us.”
Rangers First saw their membership numbers soar in the build-up to the General Meeting in March that saw supporters help Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan overthrow the former Ibrox regime. That surge has allowed them to gather enough funds to purchase stock from existing shareholders and they have now set their sights on controversial Ibrox investors the Easdale brothers.
“I would say to people like the Easdales, if they want to sell, I will go and talk to them,” Neill said. “Their interest has changed now that they are not involved. We are willing to talk to them. That is the kind of people we are aiming at and there would be a huge surge amongst the fans if we could make it happen. The fans want Rangers to be in the right hands and that is people who care about the club.
“If there are shareholders in Rangers just now that are serious about selling their shares, we are willing to talk. We are not going to spend silly money. We won’t go and say ‘we will give you 50p per share’. They need to be realistic. Just now, we are paying between 23p and 30p per share. It is our members’ money and we will spend it wisely.”
Having once again reinforced their hand at Ibrox, Rangers First are determined to play a key part in the future of their club as the new Light Blues board continue the rebuilding job on and off the park. Neill hopes there will be strength in numbers for supporters for years to come as he seeks further dialogue with the Gers hierarchy over the way forward for Rangers.
“I have had a couple of meetings with John Gilligan to let him know more about Rangers First and what we could do,” he said. “I also wrote to Dave King and he replied straight away. We let him know we totally back what he is doing, but that it would be good to have a meeting at some point. I said we were serious and that I would even go to Johannesburg to meet him and he replied that I was welcome at any time. We will arrange a meeting at some point and I have heard that (Managing Director) Stewart Robertson is an excellent guy as well.”
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