Rangers reject second Ashley loan
Rangers have today confirmed the
second tranche of Sports’ Direct’s loan will not be drawn, and have instead
opted for a £1.5M loan from the Three Bears consortium made up of Douglas Park,
George Taylor and George Letham.
In a statement to the LSE,
Rangers verified that the loan will be interest and security-free:
“The Company is pleased to announce that it
has entered into loan agreements with Douglas Park, George Letham and George
Taylor for facilities totalling £1.5m. The proceeds of the loans are available
generally for the purposes of the Company and will be used for working capital.
The loans are being made available until 31 December 2015 which will provide
the Company with time to deliver a longer term funding solution. No interest or
fees are to be charged in respect of the facilities and the loans are being provided
on an unsecured basis.”
To be used for working capital,
the loan will essentially help ‘keep the lights’ on such is Rangers’ perilous
financial predicament, but Ashley loses major clout and will not now be able to
appoint any further directors as conditions of the second tranche:
“The Company also announces that it has
ceased the process of satisfying the conditions for drawdown of the second
tranche of the facility announced on 27 January 2015 with SportsDirect.com
Retail Limited and associated companies.”
This puts the Club on a more
solid footing but the question of hard investment remains the large elephant,
and the idea of further loans will not be the most pleasant news to fans.