RANGERS chairman Dave King’s long battle to avoid paying out millions on a court-ordered shares offer is still expected to cost him over £600,000 and the club £52,000.
Papers seen by the Herald show that despite managing to avoid forking out on shares through the mandatory offer, required by the Takeover Code, the South Africa-based Laird Investments (Proprietary) Limited company Mr King controls will have to foot the bill for financial and corporate broking advice and legal advice in connection with the bid.
Last week it was confirmed that Mr King’s mandatory offer, which could have cost him as much as £19m, narrowly failed to get enough acceptances from shareholders to become valid.
It meant that those who accepted the 20p-a-share offer including former football board chairman Sandy Easdale and his family will keep their shares, while Mr King keeps his money.
Under Takeover Code rules Mr King and the Three Bears group of investors should have made a written offer to buy the shares of other shareholders at the time of the takeover four years ago having had control of over 30% of Rangers International Football Club plc.
READ MORE: Rangers chairman Dave King wins fight to avoid £8m club share purchase... just
Mr King’s offer was finally made last month after a protracted legal battle with the Takeover Panel financial regulator, with the South Africa-based businessman trying to stave off pressure to buy the shares fearing the heavy financial toll it would place on him.
During one hearing in October, Mr King’s advocate Lord Davidson of Glen Clova QC argued that he “is penniless” adding: “Any order wouldn’t secure compliance. It won’t. It is pointless.”
Mr King’s takeover group which currently holds a 34% stake, would have had to control over 50% of the club at the end of the mandatory offer, for it to have been valid. But it fell 3% short, meaning that Mr King does not have to pay a penny for the shares after all.
However, the expected costs surrounding Mr King’s estimated offer alone, is £606,000 excluding VAT.
According to financial papers connected to the offer, that includes £435,000 for financial and corporate broking advice, £75,000 for legal expenses and £96,000 in other costs.
A £52,000 expected bill incurred by Rangers International Football Club plc includes £40,000 for financial and corporate broking advice, £10,000 in legal expenses and £2,000 in other costs.
It is not clear whether the bill includes the costs of the protracted legal battle in which the South Africa-based businessman tried to stave off pressure to buy the shares fearing the heavy financial toll it would place on him.
Mr King was obliged to make the bid by the Takeover Panel financial regulator, supported by the courts, ruling he and the Three Bears had acted “in concert” to acquire more than 30% of the Ibrox club’s shares when they took over the club from a group said to be allied to Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley in 2015.
The offer from Mr King finally came after a Court of Session contempt case in front of Lady Wolffe was paused in December after the Rangers chief said he was now “100%” committed to making the multi-million-pound bid.
The 63-year-old businessman, had previously stated that delays with fulfilling court orders were the result of needing government approval to transfer Laird funds from South Africa to the UK.
According to financial statements, Laird had gross assets of 660.9m South African Rand, the equivalent of £36.43m. Some 65% of that is tied up in Laird's interest in Micromega Holdings Limited, the South African investment firm founded by Mr King.
Mr King's cause was helped by 11 shareholders including Ally McCoist and fans group Club 1872 who hold 38% of the club shares and had already made legal undertakings not to take up the offer.
The cost to Mr King, through Laird of the offer was slashed to a maximum of £8m as a result of those who had already declared they will not take up the offer.
It meant investors holding over 57% of the remaining Rangers shares would have had to have accepted Mr King's money for the offer to be valid.
Acceptances were received for 19m shares, or 13.07% of the club which would give Mr King's group 47.12%,but it was just 3% short of the 50% threshold to make the takeover offer successful.
READ MORE: Ex Rangers chief Sandy Easdale to sell shares as he tells Dave King: 'I want out'
If Mr King's bid had been successful, while being costly, it would have given his group a tighter grip or Rangers - holding over 50% of the voting rights.
But Mr King previously argued that a judge went "too far" in ordering him to make a mandatory offer at a price of 20p a share.
The King-led takeover group had always denied that they had acted ‘in concert’ to purchase shares in Rangers on December 31 2014 and January 2, 2015.
But in December, 2017 Lord Bannatyne ruled in favour of the Takeover Panel that Mr King acted in concert with the Three Bears to mount the takeover.
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