Bill Ng, the Singapore- based investor who heads one of the three groups bidding to purchase Rangers, is planning a meeting with Ally McCoist, the club's manager.
Ng is the only potential buyer yet to speak to McCoist, but he has been seeking other sources of advice, and met with the Berjaya Group, who own Cardiff City, in Malaysia over the weekend. The talks focused on the demands of owning a European football club, although Ng has some experience of the game after buying Hougang United in Singapore's S-League two years ago. The private equity firm director was in London last week for meetings with Duff & Phelps, Rangers' administrators, then flew to Malaysia, where the Berjaya Group are based.
"We want to show we're not just the type of owners who go in with no understanding and are in it just for the money," Ng said. "We will install a board of directors made up of Scottish businessmen who support the club. I'm already thinking about the day I can sit down with Ally McCoist and the staff to discuss new signings."
The 52-year-old claims to have become a Rangers fan after watching television coverage of the team winning the European Cup-winners' Cup in 1972. It might be a ploy to convince supporters of his merits, but his wealth is not in question, with Wealth-X, the group that compiles information on the world's richest individuals, estimating his personal fortune to be worth almost £40m.
Ng has pledged to set aside £12m for creditors and says that he hopes to achieve a Company Voluntary Arrangement to take the Ibrox side out of administration. He believes he was right to wait until now to reveal his identity, despite claiming to have first worked on his bid for the club last December.
"My mentors taught me how to shut up, don't show off and never blow hot air," he said. "I'm from the old school of thinking, where you don't conduct your business in public. My mission will be accomplished when another young boy watches Rangers lift a European trophy."
Ng has pledged to appoint a board of Rangers-supporting executives from the UK, but he plays a central role at Hougang United, where he is club chairman. One former manager, Aide Iskandar, revealed that Ng would often telephone him at all hours to talk about the team.
"He would call me in the middle of the night to discuss tactics," Iskandar said. "How many chairmen take the effort to study opponents? But he always gave me the final say on team selection. I really miss talking to him."
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