Rangers announce new share issue worth £16million

Andrew Cavenagh has announced that Rangers will raise £16m through a new share issue while also increasing season ticket prices by 6.5 per cent.

The Gers chairman told supporters that increased funds will help bolster Danny Rohl’s squad in the summer.

US business owner Cavenagh led a consortium of investors, with backing from the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers, in a takeover of the Ibrox club last May by purchasing over 51 per cent of shares and they have invested heavily in the squad as they look to wrest the William Hill Premiership title back from Old Firm rivals Celtic.

With seven fixtures remaining, the Light Blues are three points behind leaders Hearts and two ahead of the Parkhead club.

It is understood Cavenagh expects existing major shareholders to take up the new shares with a minimum buy-in of 1,000 shares, with his consortium prepared to make up any shortfall.

In a lengthy letter to the Gers support, Cavenagh said: “In football, the level of resources committed to the squad is directly linked to the quality on the pitch.

“If we want to continue to improve on the pitch, we need to increase the total amount of resources of the club while also shifting as many of those resources to the men’s first team as possible.

“We are raising season ticket prices by 6.5 per cent (except juvenile tickets, which will be kept at the same price). We do not take ticket prices and increases for granted.

“We recognise the exceptional commitment supporters make to the club in the form of ticket purchases.

“The costs to run the club – player wages, agents’ fees, security, food and beverage – are all rising faster than the overall rate of inflation.

“We either need the club’s revenues to keep pace, or we need to decrease the money spent on the squad.

“We don’t believe this is the time to decrease the player and football budget; in fact, we think the opposite.”

Cavenagh underlined the club was not “asking supporters to do all the heavy lifting”.

He continued: “We are raising £16m of additional capital through a new share issue, effective immediately.

“The capital will be used to support player acquisitions and other club needs.

“This increases the total capital invested in the club to £36m in the last year.

“Increasing the revenue and capital is only part of the path to allocating more resources to the men’s first team.

“If we are going to ask supporters to pay more for tickets, we have an obligation to spend those funds wisely. We have the shrunk the size and cost of the executive team.

“We are systematically reviewing every part of the club, looking for ways to be more efficient, thus enabling a greater share of the resources to go to the men’s first team.”

Cavenagh will not be looking to replace sporting director Kevin Thelwell, who departed the club last November along with chief executive Patrick Stewart.