Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver ups Rangers bid to £20m
The US owner of the Phoenix Suns is not giving up on his ambition for Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers.
After having his initial £18m takeover bid rebuffed, the American financier, 53, has offered £20m for a majority stake in the club. Sarver also promised to give a short-term loan of £6.5m. Rangers said the initial offer did not adequately value the club, despite its financial difficulties.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Sarver said:
This revised proposal hopefully helps the board deal with its short-term cashflow crunch and also addresses my desire to see the club on a solid long-term financial footing. It would also enable Rangers to repay the loans from Mike Ashley and Sandy Easdale, and free it of debt.
I know, of course, that there are various groups of prominent fans who have been working hard for a long time to bring change to the club and they can rest assured that, if my proposal is accepted, I am committed to building a strong partnership with fans and key stakeholders to do what is best for the club
Sarver said yesterday that a conversation with former Rangers player Davie Robertson turned him to the idea of buying a majority shareholding in the club:
Initially, I’d had some of my advisers examining potential investments in teams in the English Premier League and in Spain, but Davie encouraged me to take a close look at Rangers.
Rangers have confirmed they repaid a £500,000 loan from the chairman of the club's board, Sandy Easdale.