Kieran Maguire: Kyle Fox could ‘take control’ of Rangers as £25m-plus deal on cards
Kyle Fox would have to pay at £25million if she is to acquire 25 per cent stake in Rangers – but she may be unable to convince existing shareholders to sell.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest developments in the American investor’s bid to take control at Ibrox.
Fox announced her intentions to acquire 75 per cent of Rangers earlier this year before eventually scaling down her ambitions to 25 per cent, which would still make her the club’s greatest individual shareholder.
But the club have so far knocked back her advances and taken her to court over what they alleged was the unauthorised use of the club crest on a letterhead to potential co-investors.
But as relayed by the Daily Record last Wednesday (19 October), Rangers have aborted the case against Fox, who has since reaffirmed her intentions to complete a partial takeover.
Maguire’s analysis finds that she would have to pay at least a quarter of the club’s £100million market value in order to succeed.
“Rangers have over 400million shares in issue at present,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“The asking price was probably in the region of 25p per share, minimum. If someone wanted to acquire all of those, you’d have to offer a premium.
“Rangers’ market value is probably just over £100m at this point.
“If Fox wants to take control, it’s going to have to be a lucrative and persuasive offer to encourage shareholders to give up their investment in the club.
“Some of their connections to the club are based on finance and some of it is based on emotion.“
In other news, pundit issues three-word verdict on Leon King exiting Rangers after source’s update.