James Doherty, The Scotsman 24 March 2004 Ibrox takes a gamble on casino to restore fortunes "RANGERS Football Club has unveiled an ambitious ã120 million plan to transform Ibrox and the surrounding area in Govan into an entertainment complex complete with casino. The Scottish champions confirmed the development will include a casino, private flats, a community sports facility, a health care centre and hotel and conference facilities. The club chairman, John McClelland, said the proposals, which have been drafted with Glasgow City Council, should generate substantial profits for the club and create more than 2,000 jobs. The entertainment complex, in partnership with the US-company Las Vegas Sands Inc, is worth an estimated ã80 million alone." Lindsay McGarvie, The Sunday Mail 29 August 2004 MURRAY IN ã8.3M GERS SHARE WIN RECLUSIVE Rangers investor Joe Lewis has sold his stake in the club to David Murray for a ã31.7million loss. Murray paid just ã8.3million for the billionaire financier's shares last Friday. Lewis paid ã40million for them in 1997. The 20 per cent stake held by Bahamas-based Lewis' ENIC was bought through Murray MHL Ltd. Murray now owns 86 per cent of the Ibrox club and is expected to launch major sport and leisure ventures to capitalise on the brand. He may open hotels and casinos in a bid to wipe out Rangers' pounds 70million debts. Sources close to Murray say buying Lewis' stake shows 'his hunger to bring back the Ibrox glory days'. A close friend added: 'David played a magnificent hand of poker against Joe Lewis - a man he hasn't even met’. It's going to allow him to take the club to a new level.' Murray is expected to officially announce his return as Rangers chairman in the coming week. Siobhan MacFadyen, The Sunday Mirror 29 August 2004 IBROX TO DIG DEEPER RANGERS will transform the face of Ibrox in an amazing ã10million revamp, the Sunday Mirror can reveal. The audacious scheme will see 5,000 new seats added to the Glasgow stadium as the club battles to keep pace with rivals Celtic. Ibrox chiefs reckon the rebuilding will bring in pounds 25million in extra gate receipts over the next 10 years. The operation could take place as soon as next summer and it's hoped it will be the answer to the club's debts and cash-flow problems. Approaches will be made in the next month to five building firms to compete for the contract. The plan is to dig up the Ibrox turf and then excavate five metres of the ground below it. Builders will then dig beneath the front of the existing seating to create a cavity big enough to fit five new rows of seats - making a new bottom tier around the whole ground. It will raise the capacity of Ibrox from 51,420 to 56,420 - moving Rangers closer to Celtic's capacity of 60,832. The news comes amid today's vital first Old Firm game of the 2004/2005 season at Parkhead. It will be a huge tonic to Rangers fans worried about the ã68million debt hampering the club's prospects - and coincides with the announcement that club owner David Murray will resume the chairmanship at Ibrox next week. The club will set tough deadlines for the building contract, with all work to be completed in a two-month window in the close-season. A club insider said: "Everyone is massively excited. "It's been a difficult time at Ibrox with Celtic in the ascendancy lately. This shows that Rangers mean business - on and off the park. It won't be easy to get the work done before the start of next season but it could happen that quickly. These extra seats will bring another ã2.5million into the club every year - that's a lot of money, especially in the current climate. The plan is to take the pitch down by five metres (16 feet) and insert another tier around the full circumference of the pitch. It would be impossible to build up, as the stands would collapse, so they have come up with plans to dig down. The whole place is buzzing because it means more season tickets and more cash for the club.“David Murray is a very astute businessman. He led the way in redeveloping Rangers after he bought the club and now he is doing it again." Martin Hannan, Scotland on Sunday 12 September 2004 Ibrox minted after Murray's ã50m sweetener as charm offensive continues "He has got a plan," said a leading stockbroker and veteran Murray-watcher, "and if I was guessing, I would say that people who have invested in Murray Holdings and made a profit may now use that money for Rangers." The same stockbroker speculated last week that Murray was preparing an "exit strategy". Other Murray-watchers speculate that two or three years from now, Rangers could be under new ownership even if Murray retains a sizeable shareholding. With 86 per cent of the club after buying ENIC's stock, he can do with Rangers plc what he likes. "Let's say he tidies the whole thing up," said a stockbroker, "and gets the balance sheet looking much better, the question will then be, has he got somebody waiting in the wings to maybe come in and take over Rangers? "If this were an ordinary company, which Rangers most definitely is not, then you would have to conclude that he is gearing up to turn it over, but to whom? Andy McInnes, Daily Express 2 October 2004 Rangers ã10m on horizon GLASGOW-born businessman Alistair Donald is set to plough more than ã10million into Rangers to boost Alex McLeish's transfer kitty. The lifelong Rangers fan, who has an estimated fortune of pounds 70m, has been holding talks with chairman David Murray for several weeks regarding the investment. Murray will reveal the finer details of the share issue aimed at easing the club's ã74m debt at Thursday's AGM - leaving the majority of Donald's cash injection for new players. Donald said: 'I have been speaking to David Murray for some time with a view to making an investment which will be north of ã10m. 'David will be attacking the debt and wiping it out very soon so I expect a large proportion of the money I am pledging will go to the manager. 'I feel with the proper resources Alex McLeish can take Rangers even further in the Premier League and in Europe.' Donald made his fortune with internet companies in Europe and America in the 1990s and, now that he plans semi-retirement when he turns 50 next week, he is keen to buy an interest in the club he has supported all his life. Murray confirmed that talks have been ongoing over recent weeks. He said: 'We have been having amicable discussions over a period of weeks now and I look forward to a profitable outcome in due course.'We're determined to get the club back on a strong financial footing and help the manager and the team further their ambitions at home and abroad.' Stephen Halliday, The Scotsman 8 October 2004 Murray Silences Ibrox critics DAVID MURRAY yesterday produced arguably the most polished performance witnessed at Ibrox so far this season when he cruised unscathed through his first Rangers annual general meeting as chairman for three years. Despite providing no specific detail of how he intends to fulfil his recent pledge to eradicate the club's ã74million debt within the next year, Murray was afforded a largely rapturous welcome back to the front line of the Rangers command structure by an audience of around 1,500 shareholders. The proposed rights issue, which Murray hopes will raise ã57million for the club and which he will personally underwrite through his Murray International Holdings Limited company, was approved unanimously and will be undertaken within the next two months."My intention is to wipe out the club's debt completely within the next 12 months," said Murray, whose recent ã8.7million acquisition of ENIC's shares in Rangers took his controlling interest in the club to 86.3 per cent. "I'm prepared to take my share of the blame [for the debt] but I have plans and schemes in place which hopefully will alleviate the problem." Murray also provided a vague response to a question over the reported intention of wealthy supporter Alistair Donald to invest ã10million in Rangers to be used as a transfer kitty for manager Alex McLeish. "We would welcome any investment," said Murray, "and we will see what happens." He claimed Rangers can expect to receive between ã4million and ã6million a year in rent from the Las Vegas Sands Casino development proposed for the site currently housing the club's Albion car park. A planning application will be lodged with Glasgow City Council soon and the agm approved the purchase of the car park, currently owned by Murray's Premier Property Group company and leased back to Rangers, for the nominal sum of ã1. There were also echoes of Murray's Old Firm one-upmanship of old as he stated Rangers' intention to earn ã10million a year from a new kit deal, double the amount Celtic announced when striking their recent contract with Nike. Rangers are in talks with two companies to replace current kit suppliers Diadora.
