Rangers’ club owners are a group of investors with Dave King holding the largest single stake via New Oasis Asset Limited. He controls 14.22% of the shares available in the Ibrox natives.
The Gers have been a public limited company since 2000 when David Murray, then chairman and owner, floated the Glasgow side on the stock market. His act created a holding company, The Rangers Football Club PLC, that rules the club, known as The Rangers Football Club Ltd.
But their financial problems in 2012 saw The Rangers Football Club PLC enter administration. Sevco Scotland Ltd would buy the company’s assets – including Rangers’ stadium, Ibrox, and their training ground, the Rangers Training Centre – before renaming itself in July 2012.
Who are the majority shareholders who own Rangers?
Shareholders voted to rename Sevco Scotland Ltd as The Rangers Football Club Ltd. While it also formed Rangers International Football Club PLC as the holding company. Now, a number of investors own the near 450 million ordinary shares that make up the company in Glasgow.
King has the largest individual stake in Rangers with more than 63 million shares through his family’s trust, New Oasis Asset Ltd. While Douglas Park is their second-largest stakeholder on 52,550,000 shares to George Taylor with 44,074,998 and Stuart Gibson’s 44,000,000.
Julian Wolhardt and his wife are also interested in the 27,611,955 shares controlled by Borita Investments Ltd and East Harvest Ltd’s 7,498.525. While John Bennett controls 24,647,059 shares and John Halsted is the beneficial owner of Perron Investments LLC’s 24,250,000.
George Letham (22,274,516), Club 1872 (22.202,838) and Tifosy Investment Nominees Ltd (17,610,000) also make up the remaining majority shareholders that own Rangers. Tifosy Investment Nominees Ltd embodies an array of individual shareholders with minority stakes.
When did Dave King become one of the owners of Rangers?
King has invested in Rangers since March 2000 when the South African-based businessman injected £20m. The Ibrox natives aimed to raise £53m through a share issue to fund a raft of signings and develop Rangers’ academy. King said at the time that he was a lifelong Gers fan.
New Oasis Investments Ltd, a company wholly owned by King’s family trust, later purchased a 14.12% stake in Rangers’ ownership in January 2015. He purchased the shares that Artemis and Miton previously held. It followed Park, Taylor and Letham buying into the Glasgow club.
King has often earned interest in his shares since becoming the majority stakeholder among Rangers’ ownership. Club 1872 explored increasing its stake but King pulled out of a possible £13m share deal in February 2023 owing to the slow uptake from members, via The Herald.
The Glasgow Times also reported in April 2023 that King had rejected a £25m bid for each of his shares in Rangers’ ownership. King had also increased his ownership stake after Rangers issued 4.2 million new shares in February 2023 and another 7.7 million shares in April 2023.
American businesswoman Kyle Fox had shown an interest in King’s majority stake in Rangers. But she withdrew her interest in April 2023 having been met with resistance by a number of key shareholders. King also confirmed that Fox was not behind the £25m bid he waved away.
What have Rangers won since Dave King became their owner?
King played an influential role in Rangers’ return to the top of the Scottish game through his tenure as the club’s majority owner. The South African-based businessman’s work helped to rebuild the Ibrox club having had to climb back from the fourth tier after their 2012 demise.
The Gers added the fourth- and third-tier titles to Rangers’ trophy cabinet at their first tries in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons. While Rangers lifted the Scottish Championship crown on their second try in 2015/16. The Glasgow giants also won their first Challenge Cup trophy.
Rangers enjoyed a steady acclimatisation upon their promotion back into the top-flight with two third-place finishes. The club then ended back-to-back terms as the runners-up before Steven Gerrard sealed Rangers’ first top-flight title in 10 years with the 2020/21 Premiership.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst would continue Gerrard’s work as Rangers manager by lifting the 2021/22 Scottish Cup. The former Gers left-back also guided the Ibrox club into the 2021/22 Europe League final. But Michael Beale came in after a dire return to the Champions League.
What other sports franchises does Dave King own?
King built his wealth after moving to South Africa in 1976 for his work at Weir’s Pumps. His rise to prominence drew several roles as a financial advisor before establishing the financial risk management company, Specialised Outsourcing, alongside his family trust’s companies.
The Scottish-born majority owner of Rangers has also had wine farms in South Africa as part of his portfolio. King continues to own a wine farm in Tuscany today but Rangers are his only sports franchise. He has also caddied for South African golfer Gary Player at several Masters.