Craig Whyte: I'm looking forward to making Rangers a leading force in football
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2011/05...6908-23113156/
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CRAIG WHYTE will breeze into Ibrox today as Rangers' new owner.
The Motherwell-born "turnaround" specialist finally got his hands on the Ibrox club at 5.30pm last night.
And he immediately promised Rangers fans a new era of success.
Speaking for the first time since it was revealed last November that he wanted to buy the club, Whyte said: "As a Rangers supporter I now look forward to helping the club secure its future as a leading force in Scottish and European football.
"I know the club has gone through some difficult spells in recent times but it is my commitment to the manager, his backroom team, the players and, most importantly, the loyal supporters that I'll do all I can to ensure further success in the weeks, months and years to come.
"Rangers is a great club with a great future. It has the best supporters in the world and I will do everything possible to protect and enhance the club's standing going forward."
Despite the saga the change over was actually completed abruptly last night, perhaps even prematurely.
One of the many people who had been working on the £52.5m deal yesterday pressed the wrong button on a keyboard and the statement to the Stock Exchange zipped to London by mistake.
However, the deal had been completed and the announcement was delivered only a few hours ahead of schedule.
No harm was done but it was perhaps a timely reminder that Whyte will have to work quickly to form a new board of directors and the squad, even though he takes over as Rangers are poised to win a third straight SPL title.
Whyte has already made one appointment - businessman Phil Betts, also a turnaround specialist, who joined the Ibrox board last night. Whyte just wants to get his sleeves rolled up and work out with McCoist exactly how much is needed to bolster a Rangers squad which has been cut to the bare bones.
Aware that the patience of the club's support has been tested to the limit he went out of his way to thank the fans and Rangers staff for their patience during the past six months.
"The guiding principle from the outset has been to get the right deal for Rangers," he said.
"I know the time this has taken has created a lot of frustration but it was vital we secured a deal that meant we could maximise investment in the team and that is what has been achieved."
In the statement released to the Stock Exchange last night it was confirmed that Wavetower, a company owned by Whyte, had completed the purchase of Murray International Holding's shares and that was when the takeover, which started in November last year, was finally over.
David Murray, who has reigned at Ibrox since November 1988, met with 40-year-old Whyte for a few hours yesterday morning and they signed off their paperwork on the deal with Murray agreeing to give up his 83 per cent shareholding for nothing. Or, to be absolutely precise, £1.
Whyte had reached agreement with Lloyds Bank to clear the club's £18m debt and a smaller debt of just more than £4m will also be paid. That should return the lease of the Albion Car Park to the club.
Whyte has promised to spend £5m on players at the start of every season for the next five years but he has also made it clear he will allow McCoist to splash between £10m and £15m this close season because the first-team squad had to be run drastically run down as the bank enforced cutbacks.
The statement sent to the Stock Exchange read: "Wavetower is pleased to announce that it has today acquired 92,842,388 ordinary shares, representing approximately 85.3 per cent of the issued share capital in The Rangers Football Club PLC (the "Club"), for a consideration of £1."
Many questions remain unanswered about Whyte who has managed to fly under the radar for most of his business life so far.
It seems remarkable that a man who has been described as a "ghost" by some financial analysts is now the owner of one of the biggest clubs in Britain.
Whyte, at the age of 26, was Scotland's youngest self-made millionaire and now a venture capitalist he moves between homes in Monaco, London and Castle Grant near Granton-on-Spey.
He has spent more than £5m restoring the ancient castle but he'll have to spend much more than that to keep Rangers on top.
As long as Coisty gets money to improve the squad i'll be happy :) Whyte seems like a pretty shrewd businessman so hopefully he can get the club on a sound financial footing while also improving the team on the park. The future's bright...... the future's blue! :tup:
