EPL side Newcastle United Owner Mike Ashley "can be revealed" as Scottish Championship side Rangers' "mystery shares buyer" as he takes a 9% stake in the club, according to Matt Coyle of STV. Investment management firm Hargreave Hale this week sold its 5.23% holding in the Ibrox club, around £850,000 ($1.4M) in shares. A statement to the London Stock Exchange confirmed Ashley's MASH Holdings Ltd. as "the buyer of the 4.265 million shares sold by Hargreave Hale." Ashley's firm "then purchased a further three million shares in Rangers, increasing his stake to 8.92%." MASH Holdings now has a total of 7.265 million shares in the club. Now, "only hedge fund Laxey Partners Ltd has a bigger shareholding, with 16.32% of the business" (STV, 10/2). REUTERS' Sarah Young reported Newcastle United said last month that Ashley "remained committed to the club, responding to a report in a British newspaper which said he would consider offers and was interested in taking control of Rangers." Ashley is "renowned for taking minority stakes in companies or taking bets on their future performance via options" (REUTERS, 10/2).
10% LIMIT: The BBC's Richard Wilson reported the shares were sold by Hargreave Hale on Tuesday to French bank BNP Paribas. Ashley is limited to "no more than 10% by an agreement with the Scottish FA." The governing body has a rule that no individual "holds stakes in two clubs, but compromised, while applying limitations, when Ashley was brought into RIFC as a shareholder" by former Rangers CEO Charles Green. During negotiations to "provide a loan to the club last month, which
would have prevented the need to hold the open offer, Ashley sought
control of Rangers' trademark rights." This was "declined by the
directors," although a company called Rangers Retail Rights Ltd. was
incorporated on Sept. 9, with Ashley among the three directors (BBC, 10/2).
MAKING A MOVE: In London, Roddy Forsyth wrote the emergence of Ashley as the buyer is "the most powerful evidence yet that the Newcastle United owner intends to make a move on the Ibrox club." The fact that "compels this inference" is that the 20 pence ($0.30) per share he paid
Hargreave Hale for the "bulk of their holding is exactly the same as the
share price" when Rangers raised £3.1M ($5M) from their "open offer last
month." However, had Ashley "chosen to buy shares during the open offer, the money
would have gone into Rangers' coffers and given a much-needed boost to the
club's cash flow." Instead, the offer fell short by £900,000 ($1.4B), although Rangers Dir Sandy
Easdale has since bought a further
£250,000 ($403,600) worth of shares. The "principal losers, of course," are Hargreave Hale, who have taken a £2.13M ($3.4M) hit on the investment. However, the current Ibrox regime -- and "former director and would-be owner,
Dave King, who remains silent in the wings" -- now have "considerable food for
thought about how the long game is going to play out" (TELEGRAPH, 10/2).
