New Rangers owners promise £20m investment after completing takeover
The Glasgow club announced that a consortium of investors, led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises, has purchased a majority stake in the club.
The new leadership now owns 51 per cent of Rangers following a number of share purchases and has committed to invest £20million into the club, the vast majority to be spent on players.
This funding will come in the form of a new share issue, subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting on June 23. The club is also set to move from being a public limited company to private.
Healthcare executive Cavenagh will become chairman, while Paraag Marathe, who is chairman of Leeds and president of 49ers Enterprises, becomes vice-chairman.
Rangers say the Scottish Football Association approved the deal late on Thursday night after the club sought consent over dual ownership issues. Sports investment firm 49ers Enterprises owns a majority stake in Leeds.
A similar investment into Hibernian involving the Black Knights, the consortium that owns Bournemouth, was subject to SFA requirements that the stake in the Easter Road club did not exceed 30 per cent.
The deal will allow Rangers to step up their recruitment of a new manager with outgoing Real Madrid assistant manager Davide Ancelotti the front-runner, but no movement is expected until next week.
Cavenagh said: 'We are deeply grateful for the trust placed in us by the Rangers board, shareholders, staff, and supporters.
'This club's history and traditions speak for themselves, but history doesn't win matches.
'We know that the true way to honour the club's heritage will be to drive performance.
'Our focus is simple: elevate performance, deliver results, and bring Rangers back to where it belongs – at the top.'
Marathe added: 'At 49ers Enterprises, we have built a track record of sporting and business success, but our driving motivation is our deep connection to the clubs and communities we serve.
'We are excited to join Andrew and our other consortium of investors in a new era for this iconic club, and we are determined to build something that supporters can be proud of for years to come.'
Three other United States-based directors, Mark Taber, Andrew Clayton, and Gene Schneur, will join Cavenagh and Marathe as new members of the board.
Chief executive Patrick Stewart, outgoing chairman Fraser Thornton, John Halsted and George Taylor will remain on the board while Graeme Park, Julian Wolhardt, and Alastair Johnston are stepping down.
Stewart said: 'From my earliest conversations with Paraag and Andrew, I have been excited and confident in the shared vision and what it could mean for the future of Rangers.
'Our focus now is on the hard work ahead, preparing thoroughly for the new season, appointing the right men's head coach, and ensuring we have the structures in place to support success on the pitch.'
Thornton added: 'The incoming shareholders bring not only funding but also deep expertise in strategic planning, infrastructure development, and sporting excellence.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
20 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
King issues Rangers word of caution amid 'domiant force' vow
However, King also wiped out any hopes of a wild spending spree upon arrival at the club as he insisted progress will be made in a "disciplined, stable manner". The former chairman remains convinced that the new majority owners are the right people to drive the club forward but urged a word of caution to supporters expecting a canter to the league title or guaranteed European qualification in the first year. Read more: 'I think I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again just so there's absolute clarity,' King said to The Rangers Review. 'I would not be introducing Andrew and the 49ers if I did not believe they were the right people to take the club forward. I would regard that as a failure by me in terms of my judgment as well. I really do believe they are the right people to take the club forward. 'Where I would caution is, they're going to do it in a disciplined, stable manner. So, if the supporters have got a sense that all of a sudden they're going to come in and spend vast amounts of money and you're going to have a team that runs away with the league next year and qualifies for Europe, then I think that's over-ambitious. 'I think what we should start seeing is a coherent plan. I think you should expect to see better communication with supporters, where people are aware of what the plan is, what's happening. It won't be like a black hole from an information point of view. 'And they are coming in with a commitment not to win a league title, but to make Rangers the dominant force in Scotland. That is what this project is about. It's not about winning one or two titles. It's about the next ten, 20 years and I think that's why I'm excited about it, because I think they are the right people.'
Daily Record
24 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Scott Brown reveals the one Celtic booking he 'didn't deserve' as chuckling hero has no complaints about the other 145
Brown has few complaints about the bookings he received as a player... But this one still rankles Scott Brown was shown 146 yellow cards in his Celtic career – but there was only one of them he didn't deserve in his eyes. And it was arguably the most famous one of them all. The former Hoops captain was no stranger to the referee's book with his tough-tackling style and wind-up merchant approach putting him on the wrong side of many an official over the years. It was part of what made him an icon in the eyes of fans, of course, and the now- Ayr United boss has few regrets over doing whatever it took – after all it helped deliver an incredible 22 major trophies. But there's one booking that still rankles. The one he was shown for getting in the face of El-Hadj Diouf. The image of Brown standing in front of the Rangers forward with his arms spread out is a famous one. It occurred in 2011 when Brown put Celtic into the lead against Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie and made a beeline for Diouf who didn't take it well. And speaking on Frank McAvennie's Let Me Be Frank podcast, Brown said: 'I got booked for that. Honestly. That's probably the only booking I didn't deserve. 'We were having a go all season, to be fair. It was every game, then, was he still there that season afterwards? I can't remember how long he was there. 'But it was actually quite good banter. I liked somebody who gave me something back.' You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rob Burrow would be 'so proud' of Leeds MND centre, says Lindsey
Rob Burrow would be "incredibly proud" of the motor neurone disease (MND) treatment centre that bears his name, his widow Lindsey said on the first anniversary of his Leeds Rhinos star Burrow died on 2 June last year aged 41 after being diagnosed with MND in Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease is set to open at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds later this during a visit to the site, Lindsey Burrow said: "Ultimately that's what Rob wanted to do, to help other families." She told the BBC: "To have this centre for us as a family, as somewhere we can come to remember Rob and to be able to share that with other families that are in the same situation that we've been in, is incredibly special.""Rob would be incredibly proud, he was so humbled," Lindsey said."To have this centre, to have the marathon, it's just part of Rob's legacy and the amazing work that he's done for the MND community."He was the face of the MND community in the most difficult of circumstances but to have this, I think it really gives people hope." Burrow's parents Geoff and Irene were at Headingley Stadium - the home of Leeds Rhinos - on Saturday along with his sisters Joanne Hartshorne and Claire Burnett for the club's MND Awareness game against Wakefield Trinity."We have good and bad days - more bad than good at the moment," admitted Geoff."But Rob would want us to keep smiling and banging the drum for MND patients."A minute's applause was held for the former scrum-half and hooker before banners were displayed on the pitch, with one of them bearing his famous words: "In a world full of adversity we must dare to dream." Dr Agam Jung, consultant neurologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and director of the MND service at Leeds, was Burrow's consultant."Rob's legacy is about courage and dignity," she said."It's about changing the trajectory of the most cruel disease in the world and oh my goodness, that is something really special."She said she was "very pleased" with the progress at the site of the MND centre."It's a centre for hope and the MND community draws hope," Dr Jung said. The fundraising effort championed by Burrow and his Leeds Rhinos team-mate Kevin Sinfield raised millions for MND charities following Burrow's raised for the centre will allow researchers to launch projects aimed at reducing the time it takes to diagnose the league coach and Burrow's former team-mate Jamie Jones-Buchanan also paid tribute to the late star to mark the anniversary, saying Burrow's "spirit and what he stood for is very much alive at Leeds Rhinos, and I think it always will be"."Every opportunity we've got to remember Rob and what he brought to the club and gave so many fans, so many tens of thousands of people, will be a part of who we are for many, many years," he said. Sinfield announced last week that he would be running seven ultra marathons in seven days in seven regions to raise money for MND challenge will take place in December and will include marathons in Sheffield and hopes the campaign will raise £777,777."This has become less about running and more about bringing people together," he said. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
