A lot can happen in 24hrs in football and it is amazing how quickly the pressure and focus has been taken away from Philippe Clement and his continued employment at Rangers.
When news broke of 49ers Enterprises being in ‘advanced talks’ over a potential takeover, disbelief soon became reality when a host of respected journalists confirmed that the report was accurate.
As with every story like this, the finance experts from the East End of Glasgow are out in force, however, Rangers News prefers to get its information from a proper “in the know” source.
What could block Rangers takeover bid by 49ers Enterprises?
Adam Williams, Head of Football Finance and Governance Content for GRV Media, has been provided some insight into what is happening behind the scenes at Rangers and why there is still a long way to go yet:
“As we saw last year with the collapse of the Kyle Fox deal, this won’t be easy to engineer,” warned Williams.
“There are a lot of competing forces in the Rangers boardroom and a fragmented shareholder structure. That’s going to make things complex, although the tone of the reporting suggests there is confidence that something can be thrashed out.”
The BBC has since reported that as much as 50% of the shareholding could be sold including major players within the Ibrox boardroom selling up.
“One thing that might have gone under the radar is that 49ers set up a new football department late last year which was widely seen as a move towards a multi-club model.”
Will Rangers get a “transfer war-chest”?
With a £5bn fortune available to the 49ers owners, it is easy to see why fans might get excited, but is it as easy as that?
“Talk of a ‘massive cash injection’ is probably a little bit premature in my view, however, this would likely be private transfer of shares as opposed to new equity injected into Rangers, so there’s no obligation for any extra funds to go the club itself,” confirmed Williams.
“That said, 49ers have high liquidity and can afford to underwrite losses, which would allow the club to spend more. Usually, there is a commitment of X amount reserved for investment- either in the squad or for infrastructure – as part of a takeover, but we’d need to see the finer details first.”
