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Scottish Rangers Execs Llambias, Leach Stall King's Takeover By Demanding $443,000

Scottish Championship side Rangers CEO Derek Llambias and Finance Dir Barry Leach on Tuesday night stalled Dave King's Rangers takeover by demanding £290,000 ($442,500) to leave, according to Jackson & McLeod of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. It came after King said he had "won enough votes to have the directors booted off the board" at Friday's EGM. But Llambias and Leach "insisted they would only quit if they were paid a year's wages." The pair -- who have "only been at the club for four months" -- then announced they are to take up another £5M ($7.6M) of crisis cash from EPL side Newcastle Owner and Rangers shareholder Mike Ashley to cover Rangers' March wage bill -- "while claiming the egm's outcome was still in doubt." Had they agreed to resign on Tuesday afternoon, "King and his right-hand men Paul Murray and John Gilligan would have been given the all-clear to take control of the Rangers boardroom immediately." But King believes the trio "will be in power by Friday and so was unwilling to sign off on a cheque" of £290,000 to "fast-track the process" (DAILY RECORD, 3/4). In London, Mark Walker reported King may have claimed a "landslide victory," but the remaining members of the Ibrox board have "refused to give up without a fight and have indicated Friday's extraordinary general meeting will still go ahead." Just as the majority of Rangers supporters "would have been celebrating the news, the board engineered perhaps its final throw of the dice by releasing a statement of its own explaining why it had decided to cling on to what increasingly looks like the end." King also warned the pair he would "hold them liable for the costs for Friday’s EGM," which could be as much as £60,000 ($91,600). Rangers' response was to accuse King of "being premature with his celebrations and to reveal they have started the process" of accessing Sports Direct's second £5M tranche of Ashley's £10M ($15.26M) loan, "even though the March payday is three weeks away" (LONDON TIMES, 3/4). The PA reported King alleged that Llambias and Leach "want pay-offs." The boardroom duo "hit back at those claims, insisting they are remaining in position to ensure the club's shares are not suspended by bosses on the AIM market." Their statement to the Stock Exchange said, "By remaining in post the directors wish to give the Company and possible incoming directors (should the Board change) the best possible chance of complying with the AIM rules and of avoiding the risk highlighted of the Company's shares being suspended. There can be no guarantee of avoiding suspension." King insists he will "force the directors out by Friday at the latest" (PA, 3/4).

FACING ACCUSATIONS: In Glasgow, Gary Ralston reported Ashley "and his minions" stood accused of "laying booby traps" as they "beat their retreat from Rangers." It "remains to be seen what, if any, hitherto unknown clauses can now be enforced but his move at the end of another day of drama has hardened attitudes" against the Sports Direct tycoon among Rangers fans and shareholders "still further." Ashley's move will have "no impact in terms of regime change at the club." Any "immediate hopes of a peaceful accord" between Ashley and King "have been shattered, with sources close to King revealing he is ready to take him on, lucrative retail deals and all." Investor Kieran Prior, one of the "biggest individual shareholders in the club, rounded on the Cockney businessman and his associates and called on King to hold firm and challenge recent Ashley moves in court if necessary." Prior said, "I don't know how they have the gall to make this move. They are lower than snake oil salesmen and acting out of spite and self-interest. Their behavior is abhorrent" (DAILY RECORD, 3/4). Ralston reported in a separate piece the £5M loan move by Ashley's lieutenants "has been condemned as spiteful." Llambias and Leach insist they are operating "for the good of the company and denied acting out of self-interest." But Union of Fans' spokesperson Chris Graham said, "They are trying to hold the club to ransom and it seems to amount to a threat of a demand for a pay-off or £5 million they admit the club doesn’t need until the third week of March" (DAILY RECORD, 3/4).

SHARES SUSPENDED: In London, Kate Burgess reported shares in Rangers were suspended on Wednesday "after WH Ireland quit as the football club's nominated stock market adviser, marking the latest twist in the battle for control of the Glasgow side." Rangers now has "one month in which to find a replacement to WH Ireland." If the club does not, the shares will be canceled. WH Ireland became Rangers' so-called "nomad" in December after rival Daniel Stewart "relinquished its nomad licence." WH Ireland had "already threatened to resign on Friday" should King win his attempt at a boardroom coup (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/4).

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