LONDON (Alliance News) - Rangers International Football Club PLC Tuesday said it has begun satisfying the conditions for the drawdown of the second GBP5 million tranche of the GBP10 million credit facility from Sports Direct International PLC.
In a separate statement, Rangers said it has also tried to reach out to shareholder Dave King to try and seek a resolution "in the best interests of the club" ahead of the extraordinary general meeting due to be held this Friday, but said it has been unsuccessful.
On January 27, Rangers entered into the agreement with Sports Direct for the credit facility, a deal that meant Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley would no longer have a direct loan to the club.
The facility was in two tranches, with the first GBP5 million drawndown immediately to cover working capital and to repay the loans provided by MASH Holdings Ltd, Ashley's investment vehicle.
Under the first tranche, Rangers transferred 26% of its share capital of its Rangers Retail Ltd business, a joint venture with Sports Direct, to the retailer for the duration of the facility, to be transferred back once all outstanding sums under the loan are repaid.
The second GBP5 million tranche will be used by the club, if required, for working capital purposes and is subject to due diligence by Sports Direct before any drawdown can be made.
In the additional statement on Tuesday, Rangers said proxy voting for the meeting to be held on Friday is still waiting for a "significant number of shares that have not yet voted," meaning "the outcome cannot therefore be determined with certainty," after King reportedly released a statement Tuesday that, according to the Guardian, "claims he is on the verge of taking control of Rangers."
King requisitioned the meeting, where he is calling for he entire board of the football club to be removed.
"The board have reached out to David King in recent days to seek a resolution in the best interests of the club but regrettably this has not yet proved possible. If control of the board of directors of the Company changes as a result of the general meeting the directors pledge that they will do their utmost to work with the new board in the interests of Rangers Football Club, as they have done and continue to do," said Rangers Tuesday.
Rangers shares closed down 1.4% to 35.50 pence per share on Tuesday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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