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Rangers fans have shown their commitment – now it’s time they have their say:

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In this, the season of goodwill, it is clear that it is the Rangers fans that are in the mood for giving gifts, with the news that the Rangers share issue closed with the club raising the sum of £22m from the Initial Public Offering.

Institutional investors bought up £17m worth of shares, with the Ibrox fans committing £5m in just one week. The club had initially hoped to raise £20m from the sale, then reviewed the total upwards when institutions oversubscribed.

It is truly amazing that £5m has been raised by the support, despite Christmas having been just a week away and 37,000 fans having already committed funds to the club through season tickets. The Rangers Supporters Trust bought £250,000 of shares on behalf of its membership, this money brought in through its BuyRangers campaign.

The Trust will hold a bloc of the shares as a group, and each individual member will have a vote in return for their involvement.

The IPO shares were sold at 70p, which means that the original investors, such as Charles Green who purchased the business and assets of the club while it was in administration last May, have in reality doubled their investment.

This must be seen by Charles Green as a personal victory after having overcome strong opposition initially from the Rangers grassroots fans to his takeover of the Ibrox club. The IPO prospectus also showed that Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United Football Club and retail firm Sports Direct, is an investor.

Funds raised by the share issue will be used as working capital, investment in the team and the stadium. After all that has happened to the club since administration in February 2012, it now seems clear that Rangers have a strategy to recover from what has been the most difficult period in the club’s 140 year history.

The investment from the fans of £5m is proof that Rangers have a support that will not walk away when the going gets tough. Ranger’s fans have put their money where their heart is and in this season of goodwill and giving, have provided the club with the gift of a future.

The Rangers Trust must build on this investment and use it to give the support more of a say in the running of the club and give the fans a voice that will be heard inside the boardroom, so that the club never again finds itself in a fight for its existence, and to protect the long-term future of Rangers.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/42143

http://rangersthefallandrise.wordpress.com/

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  • jockybhoy says:

    Fyi charles green bought his shares at a penny. He’s sitting on a paper profit of over 6900%. And he’s paying himself a salary of some £360,000 a year, with a potential bonus doubling that – for running a team in Division 3! In Scotland! You are right enough, NewRangers fans are gullible, sorry, charitable.

    The fans fell 50% short of Green’s expected contribution to the cause. Half the shares allocated to fans weren’t bought, but the institutional investors were over-subsribed as you say. I wonder what story they were spun – after all their job is to make money for their investors, not “support” Rangers International Plc (RIP!?)

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