LONDON (Alliance News) - Rangers International Football Club PLC shareholders on Friday voted to remove the club's current board, backing the proposals tabled by investor Dave King and ousting the directors on the board closely associated with Mike Ashley.
Shareholders voted in favour of removing Chief Executive Derek Llambias and Finance Director Barry Leach and voted in favour of appointing King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan as directors on the board. Rangers said 85% of the votes cast were in favour of removing Llambias and Leach, with broadly the same amount cast in favour of electing King, Murray and Gilligan. Some 67% of shareholders voted on the resolutions.
King is a former director of the club, as is Murray, while Gilligan is the former Rangers Supporters Trust vice-chairman.
King's plan to take the helm of the club could yet face regulatory hurdles, as both he and Murray do not pass the Scottish FA's fit and proper person test for a club director. Both were on the board of Rangers when it collapsed into administration in February 2012, contravening a clause precluding anyone who has been on the board of a club which has been placed into administration in the last five years from being appointed a club director.
King's tax conviction in South Africa also breaks the fit and proper person test. The SFA rules preclude anyone who has been convicted of fraud in the last ten years from being appointed to a club board.
Prior to the vote, WH Ireland had said it would resign as Rangers' nominated adviser should King be appointed to the board. It followed through on that threat this week, causing shares in Rangers to be suspended. The club has a month to appoint a new nominated adviser before trading in its AIM shares is cancelled. Rangers had said WH Ireland has already warned it prior to the meeting that King's appointment to the board could threaten its AIM listing due to his tax fraud conviction.
King, who owns a stake of around 15% in the club, tabled the proposals in February as the latest salvo in an ongoing battle for control of the club between King and allied shareholders and Mike Ashley, the founder of Sports Direct International PLC and the owner of Newcastle United FC. Ashley took effective control of the club last year when he provided it with rescue loans of GBP3 million. That grip was strengthened at the end of January when the club said it has entered into a GBP10 million loan deal with Sports Direct.
Llambias and Leach are both long-time associates of Ashley. Llambias is the former managing director of Newcastle United FC, which is also owned by Ashley, while Leach is the former finance director at Sports Direct.
Rangers had already seen two departures, of Chairman David Somers and Non-Executive Director James Easdale, in the lead-up to the general meeting. Both were considered to be sympathetic to Ashley's cause.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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