FORMER Rangers chief Sandy Easdale and his family are expected to remain shareholders after club chairman Dave King won a battle to avoid paying out millions on a court-ordered shares offer.

Mr King avoided the huge shares bill after his court-ordered shares offer fell just 4.3m shares short of the required number to give him a tighter control of the club.

Mr King's takeover group, which holds a 34% stake, would have had to control over 50% of the club at the end of the offer, for it to have been valid.

READ MORE: Rangers chairman Dave King wins fight to avoid £8m club share purchase... just

The court-ordered offer to buy all shares in Rangers other than those already held by him and three other investors failed because the number of valid acceptances came to 19m, or 13.07% of the club, just 3% short of the 50% threshold which would have landed Mr King with having to pay millions for shares.

The offer has now lapsed, which means that those who accepted the 20p-a-share offer including former football board chairman Sandy Easdale and his family will have to keep their shares.

The Easdales, who own McGills bus company, could decide to sell them on the open market, but the Herald understands that that might not constitute good value for them and are now likely to be forced to stick with them.

The Herald:

Sandy Easdale, his brother James and other family members made it clear they wanted to sell their 6,450,000 shares in Mr King's court-ordered offer to buy out the majority of club shareholders for 20p a share.

For Sandy Easdale, once the fourth-biggest individual shareholder in the club if the offer had not lapsed, it would have meant the end of an association as an investor that began seven years ago when the Rangers went into financial meltdown under then owner Craig Whyte.

Mr King was obliged to make the bid by the Takeover Panel financial regulator, which ruled he, and the Three Bears group of investors had acted "in concert" to acquire more than 30% of the Ibrox club's shares when they took over the club from a group said to be allied to Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley in 2015.

The Herald:

Valid acceptances were received for 19m shares, or 13.07% of the club which would give Mr King's group 47.12%, just 3% short of the 50% threshold to make the takeover offer successful.

Mr King's offer was finally made last month after a protracted legal battle with the South Africa-based businessman trying to stave off pressure to buy the shares fearing the heavy financial toll it would place on him.

Under Takeover Code rules Mr King and the Three Bears, made up of Hong Kong-based investment banker George Taylor, Park's Motor Group founder Douglas Park and wealthy fan George Letham, should have made a written offer to buy the shares of other shareholders at the time of the takeover having overtaken a 30% threshold.

The result will not result in any further action from the Takeover Panel, which was satisfied that the shares offer was eventually carried out according to the Code. If Mr King's bid had been successful, while being costly, it would have given his group a tighter grip or Rangers - holding over 50% of the club.

Mr King's cause was helped by 11 shareholders including Ally McCoist and fans group Club 1872 who hold 38% of the club shares and had already made undertakings not to take up the offer.

The Herald: Ally McCoist

So remaining investors holding over 57% of the remaining shares would have had to have accepted Mr King's money for it to succeed.

The cost to Mr King, through his South Africa-based Laird Investments (Proprietary) Limited firm, of the offer was slashed to a maximum of £8m as a result of those who had declared they will not take up the offer in advance.

Mr King was ordered to make an offer for the remainder of the shares in Rangers International Football Club Ltd by the Takeover Panel after it ruled he had acted “in concert” with the Three Bears investors group when they took control of the club.

The 63-year-old businessman, had previously stated that delays with fulfilling court orders were the result of needing government approval to transfer the funds from South Africa to the UK.

The offer came after a Court of Session contempt case in front of Lady Wolffe was paused in December after the Rangers chief said he was now “100%” committed to making the multi-million-pound offer.

During one hearing in October, Mr King's advocate Lord Davidson of Glen Clova QC argued that he "is penniless" adding: "Any order wouldn't secure compliance. It won't. It is pointless."

The King-led takeover group had always denied that they had acted ‘in concert’ to purchase shares in Rangers on December 31 2014 and January 2, 2015.
In December, 2017 Lord Bannatyne ruled in favour of the Takeover Panel that Mr King acted in concert with the Three Bears to oust a board allied to Mike Ashley, who is owner of Newcastle United.

But Mr King argued that a judge went "too far" in ordering him to make a mandatory offer at a price of 20p a share.