Rangers Agree £1.5M Loan

Photo by Jeff Holmes Rangers have agreed an interest-free £1.5million loan with Three Bears investors Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor, the club has confirmed to the Stock Exchange. It is the first major move by the Ibrox outfit's new board since Dave King forced out the previous Mike Ashley-backed regime earlier this month. Ashley handed the club a £5million loan earlier this year - but the club have also now revealed they have halted the process which would have allowed them to withdraw another #5million from the Newcastle United owner's vast coffers. Park, who has now been appointed to the new-look Light Blues board along with Paul Murray, John Gilligan and John Bennett, and his associates Taylor and Letham played a key role in King's boardroom coup. They backed the South African businessman's shareholder vote which ultimately forced former chairman David Somers and director James Easdale to resign before Ashley's allies Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were forcibly removed at a general meeting. Now the board says the loan will allow them more time to find fresh sources of investment as they start work on rebuilding the fallen Glasgow giants. The club said in a 2pm statement to the City: "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. "Provision of the loans is classified as a related party transaction under rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies. The independent directors of the company (being its board with the exception of Mr Park who is excluded from such decisions being a related party in respect of the loans) consider that the terms of the loans are fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of the company are concerned. "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."