RANGERS have withdrawn their legal action against an American businesswoman who was seeking to strike a multi-million-pound share purchase and investment deal.
The Ibrox board instigated proceedings against Kyle Fox and KRF Capital amid claims that she was attempting to ‘trick’ investors into thinking that stakes in RIFC plc were for sale with the blessing of the top table that is headed by chairman Douglas Park.
But documents filed in Florida on Thursday, which have been seen by Herald and Times Sport, confirm that Rangers will not pursue their case any further just two months after initiating proceedings Stateside. It is understood that no damages or costs have been awarded to Ms Fox or KRF Capital.
Lawyers for the American described the lawsuit from Rangers as ‘half-cocked’ and ‘nothing more than an all-male board’s attempt to bully a Miami-based female investor into dropping her lawful bid to acquire an ownership stake in the club and to publicly intimidate the minority shareholders with whom she was in discussions into not selling their shares’.
Ms Fox, the former Global Head of Capital Markets at HIG Capital LLC, became interested in acquiring a stake in Rangers after meeting former chairman Paul Murray earlier this year and submitted a proposal to deputy chairman John Bennett that would have seen her buy 75 per cent of Rangers and commit an additional £50million of capital over five years.
That was later scaled down to a 25 per cent stake, plus an additional capital commitment of £75m, alongside an 'Investment Teaser' presentation that outlined KRF’s plans to use technology to enhance existing income streams and grow new ones for Rangers.
After that blueprint was rejected by the Ibrox board in July, Ms Fox sent five identical emails to ‘partners at a European Investment Firm that invests in European infrastructure assets’ that explained the ‘opportunity to acquire a plurality ownership of a first division Scottish football team’.
Court documents for KRF claim that Rangers’ complaint centres around a ‘slide deck, dated June 2022, containing investment modelling and publicly available Rangers financial information, along with the Rangers logo and mark’. As part of their action, Rangers initially sought compensation for damages to their ‘business relationships, goodwill and reputation’ after claiming Fox was unlawfully using their trademarks and branding.
Herald and Times Sport understands Rangers are satisfied that the action has served its purpose after becoming concerned that their Intellectual Property had been used without authorisation. The board believed that could have caused confusion but are now content with their position.
The papers detail how Rangers alleged that the investor deck was shared with Robert Bruce, the director of the London-based capital placement agency Silver Spire. Mr Bruce confirmed that Silver Spire never sent the deck to any potential investors.
But the Light Blues board were tipped off about the document after Gordon Dickson, a business associate of Ms Fox, shared it, without her knowledge or consent, to Scottish musician Darius Campbell.
It is claimed that the singer-songwriter, who died in Minnesota in August, shared the file with his cousin and that is ‘presumably how the deck reached Rangers’ board.’
KRF stated that the trademark infringement claim should be dismissed because Rangers ‘failed to allege that KRF Capital used the Rangers mark in commerce, let alone in a way that was likely to lead to consumer confusion’.
Lawyers were forced to retract a statement that Rangers ‘is not for sale’ after KRF pointed out that, as a public limited company with freely transferable shares, an ownership stake is always “for sale” and it was acknowledged that neither the email to investors or the Investment Teaser ‘“mention Rangers by name,” much less assert that the “Investment Opportunity” they propose had the approval or imprimatur of Rangers’ board’.
Counsel for Ms Fox called for the complaint to be ‘dismissed with prejudice’ and Rangers filed a notice that voluntarily dismissed all claims against Ms Fox and KRF Capital just hours later as the matter was brought to a close.
