£285M magnate confirms he wants to invest in Rangers

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Ibrox Noise

·27. Oktober 2024

£285M magnate confirms he wants to invest in Rangers

By now we’ve all seen the shock news that Rangers could be in line for a serious whack of investment with high-profile whisky magnate Billy Walker interested in funnelling cash into the club.

In short, Rangers lack a major benefactor, a Dermott Desmond if you like, and Walker could well be a big answer there.

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The man is worth around £55M personally, but his assets in the whisky industry went for £285M in 2016 and he secured around £100M of that for himself back then.

He’s big money, and he’s been vocal in the press lately that he wants to invest:

“Running a football club must be extremely difficult as there is so much uncertainty. You have to put a lot of trust into the managerial team and you have to oversee the inside of the business and make sure the club is on the right track. You’ve got to have people with a football knowledge and you’ve got to trust the manager that he’s going in the right direction.”

He went on:

“The reality is the (Rangers) board has the fiscal responsibility to make sure all the correct financial levers are in the right places and they can see a future, that’s very important. It’s really important to see past the next week and certainly the next five years and determine where the club is going. In reality, would I like to invest? Yes, if the circumstances were right. Would I be the principal investor? No. That would be for somebody else.”

Then added:

“I’ve had conversations in the past but in parallel with what’s happening in the football world, there’s also what’s happening in my own business world. There’s always demand. You’re always asked questions when opportunities come up and that’s life.”

Before finishing off by saying:

“I wouldn’t be against investing in the club. John Gilligan is an excellent man, he’s a top businessman. Any time there is a call to arms, John has been prepared to step up. But sure, I’m a Rangers fan, if the environment’s right, probably yes why not? But if I was investing I would want to have a say about the direction of where the club is going.”

So he wouldn’t be the primary investor, but then neither he should.

How much is Billy Walker prepared to invest in Rangers?

He didn’t get as far as he has in his industry by wasting cash, and he is clearly a smart man who will only invest that cash in Rangers if it’s going to be worthwhile.

Yes he’s a Rangers fan, a big one, but that doesn’t mean he is willing to throw his money away for no return.

So what figure? We’d imagine he’d be willing to throw in up to £10M at this point, but of course investing means shares, and right now Rangers’ shares are all tied up in disparate groups of holders who mostly don’t have Rangers’ best interests at heart.

But if the club found a way to issue new shares, to find a way to have Walker invest in serious money, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Unfortunately, £10M itself isn’t going to turn round Rangers’ deficit to Celtic.