THE Rangers board has welcomed the purchase of 13.3million shares by millionaire businessman Douglas Park's Three Bears group.
It was revealed on New Year's Eve that the club's largest shareholder Laxey Partners had sold its 16 per cent stake to Park and his associates George Letham and George Taylor.
Laxey chairman Colin Kingsnorth claimed he was handing the shares to the three wealthy supporters so they could lead the fight against Mike Ashley's Ibrox involvement, after labelling chairman David Somers a "wet fish".
But despite Somers and director James Easdale's backing for the Newcastle owner in recent investment talks with oldco director Dave King, the board says it is looking forward to working with Park and co.
In a statement to the Stock Exchange on Friday morning, Rangers said: "The company has been informed that on 31 December 2014, George Taylor, Douglas Park and George Letham acquired 5,000,000, 5,000,000 and 3,299,415 ordinary shares of 1p each respectively, representing 6.14%, 6.14% and 4.05% of issued share capital.
"The board of Rangers is delighted that George Taylor, an existing significant shareholder, and George Letham, who provided the company with a credit facility in 2014, together with Douglas Park have demonstrated their commitment to the company through this purchase. The directors welcome their continued enthusiasm towards contributing to the future success of the company and club."
However, the future of the club could still depend on whether Ashley is allowed to tighten his iron grasp on the Glasgow giants.
Rangers are desperately short of money and need to raise £8.3million before April 1 if they are to stay afloat.
Things got so bad, they were forced to offload Lewis Macleod to SkyBet Championship side Brentford on Wednesday for an "undisclosed fee".
In a separate Stock Exchange notice, the club also announced the proceeds of the sale - understood to be just under £1million - will be used to keep the lights on for a few more weeks.
It said: "The board of Rangers announces that on 30 December 2014 Rangers Football Club entered into an agreement to sell a player, Lewis Macleod. The proceeds of the sale will be used for immediate working capital needs during the next few weeks while the directors, in consultation with the company's major shareholders and third parties, seek a long term and stable financial solution for the club."
While the Three Bears are now positioning themselves to ride to Rangers' rescue, they may find opposition from Ashley.
The Sports Direct businessman owns an 8.92 per cent stake in Rangers and controls the Glasgow giants' retail division. But the £3million emergency loan he handed the board late last year has effectively given him control of the club.
He has already placed former Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias onto the board and named him chief executive - and still holds the right to pick a second director.
However, the Scottish Football Association has already blocked Ashley's attempt to raise his stake to 29.9 per cent after ruling it would breach "dual ownership" regulations.
Ashley's next move, however, could prove crucial to the club's future.
Motor group boss Park has had his wealth previously estimated at £78million, while Letham - who sits on the board of the Rangers Supporters Trust (RST) - has already loaned the club £1million earlier this year.
Taylor, meanwhile, bought a 3.2 per cent stake in the club last month - meaning the consortium is now in control of 19.5 per cent of Rangers.
The trio have already lodged a £6.5million offer to underwrite a share issue with the club's board. In return, they want two seats on the Rangers board.
Wednesday's transaction will not see any cash flow into Rangers' coffers but it will allow the Three Bears to participate directly in any share issue taking place early in the new year.
A motion at last month's AGM which would have allowed the club to raise new shares and offer them to new investors before existing shareholders was controversially defeated.
Meanwhile, supporter groups say the latest developments in the Ibrox power struggle have sparked an increase in interest from supporters backing fan-ownership schemes.
A spokesman for the RST - who run BuyRangers - said: "We've had an amazing response. We've seen new life members and existing members signing up for shares as well as new members who hold shares handing them to the RST."
Organisers of Rangers First say they have seen more than 100 new fans sign up since the Three Bears made their move.
A spokesman said they had seen a "significant uptake in Rangers First memberships as fans look to do their bit to support the actions of others".
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