Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Mike Ashley sells Rangers shareholding to fan group Club 1872 and CEO of Hong Kong private equity firm

Mike Ashley (Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Mike Ashley (Joe Giddens/PA Wire)

MIKE ASHLEY is no longer a shareholder at Rangers.

The Sports Direct billionaire has sold his stake in the Ibrox club to supporter’s group Club 1872 and Julian Woldhart, the CEO of a Hong Kong based private equity firm.

After the purchase, Club 1872 has become the second largest shareholder in Rangers International Football Club PLC, with 10.71%.

They said in a statement: “We are delighted that our members’ support for Club 1872 has brought us to a point where we can acquire these shares and complete the process of restoring control of RIFC to those who view the footballing success of Rangers FC as being just as important as RIFC’s careful stewardship financially.

“Club 1872 allows Rangers supporters to help safeguard the future of our Club. Taking our shareholding above 10% puts us well on our way to that goal.

“Our next ambition is to reach out to those Rangers supporters who are not already members of Club 1872 and encourage them to join. Together we can achieve great things for our Club.”

In a statement on the Rangers website, Dave King said: “This is the partnership I want to see lead Rangers forward.

“Rangers run by those who care for it most, not what has been dismissively described by some as ‘fans with calculators’, but a mature and structured organisation which can galvanise and represent our supporters and use their skills and talents to drive our Club back to the top of Scottish and European Football”.

The remainder of the shares held by MASH Holdings Limited were bought by Julian Wolhardt, who is the CEO of Dehong Capital Partners.

He said: “I am delighted to become an RIFC shareholder. I have a long held love for Scotland and football and I am keen to see Rangers FC unlock its considerable commercial potential.

“With the successful restructuring of the retail operations, RIFC is now on a firm financial footing and I look forward to being a part of its exciting future.”

The news follows King’s announcement earlier this week that a new deal had been negotiated with Ashley’s Sports Direct for Rangers retail.

The Ibrox megastore was emptied of kits as fans went out in their droves to pick-up club merchandise, having boycotted for around two years due to the previous deal negotiated by Charles Green.