Dave King has announced that the plans for his Rangers shares to be sold to fan group Club 1872 are over.
The supporter group completed their first share purchase from the former chairman two years ago after a £13million deal was agreed with King over his major shareholder status at Ibrox. The agreement would result in Club 1872 gaining more than 25 per cent of shares in an attempt to give fans a voice.
Yet the South African-based businessman has now revealed that plans to give the organisation more time to pay out sums by December last year have proven to be 'futile'.
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King wrote: “It is with disappointment that I advise that the agreement for Club 1872 to acquire my shareholding in Rangers has been terminated. This year was to be the final year of the agreement and despite my previously stated intentions to extend the agreement (to provide Club 1872 with more time) it has become clear that this will be futile.
"A review of the share purchases undertaken last month reveals that the take-up for the two years to December 2022 is so far short of the agreed amounts that further extensions will not have any meaningful impact in the next few years.
"When I initiated the Never Again campaign I had hoped that supporters would take advantage of my offer to become the largest shareholder in the club but this never materialised despite the efforts of myself and Club 1872 to promote this campaign. My feedback on the possible reasons for this are:
- Some supporters prefer to own shares directly.
- Some supporters would support joint fan ownership but not within Club 1872.
- The difficult economic conditions. Supporters no longer feel the club is under threat.
- The club’s recent campaign against Club 1872 and its officers.
"I think that a combination of the above is correct and will remain as such for the foreseeable future. Over the last few weeks I have considered whether my dream of supporter ownership could be achieved by extending the offer to other supporter groups in addition to Club 1872 but there is no indication that this will make a material difference.
"In addition, the club’s success with its restrictive resolution at the recent AGM imperils any would-be shareholder. I will continue to vote my shareholding as a supporter and in the best interests of the club.”
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