Haleem Kherallah’s long-running bid for control looks to have finally ended after his latest attempt to buy a stake in the club was rejected. The Marylebone-based Kherallah has been trying to acquire the shareholding of former Rangers chairman Chris Wright, as well as shares held by current board members.
Last week he offered £500,000 plus what he described as "an interest-free loan" of a further £500,000 on the condition chairman Nick Blackburn stood down. But his bid to buy shares at just three pence - half the price directors Kevin McGrath and Bill Power paid last year - was insufficient, the Rangers board unanimously agreed.
Kherallah says he was invited to return with a better offer but after considering his position, he revealed last night that he would not be doing so. "I won’t be doing that. I have decided now to carry on being a fan and remain in the background," he said.
"They didn’t want to sell the shares at that price, and that’s fair enough. The thing is that I didn’t contact them, they contacted me. I got a phone call saying the club was out of money and inviting me to make an offer. "When you’re told the club is struggling so much they may have to sell players and are fighting to survive, you conclude that the shares are worthless and that 3p is a fair price. Obviously that was not the case."
Kherallah had made it clear he wanted control of the club and says he continued to resist pleas to join the board in return for a small shareholding. "I thought about that again over the weekend," he revealed. "But at the end of the day, I just don’t think I could be part of the board when Nick Blackburn - a reminder of the Chris Wright era - is still chairman and the club is still being run the way it has been run.
"I said all along I wouldn’t get involved unless it was part of a genuine fresh start for the club and I can’t change that now. "I would like to join the board. But I don’t want to do that and then be part of a board that has to tell the fans in a few months’ time that the money has run out again.
"There has to be changes in the way the club is run. I have said that all along. Putting a few hundred thousand in here and there so the current people can keep running the show will not work. That has to change."
Kherallah’s withdrawal came as the club closed in on a deal to secure the kind of investment in return for a smaller amount of shares the board has been chasing for some time. A supporter, who does not wish to be named at this stage, came forward following recent reports that Rangers were facing a cash crisis and has been in talks with the club this week.
"It’s good news," Kherallah said. "It shows there are people that care about the club and are willing to put their money in. "There’s Harold (Winton), Kevin McGrath and Bill Power - good people - and although I am stepping out of it, I will have the money waiting if it’s needed in the future. "I won’t get involved now unless the club are in danger of going into administration or have to sell a player. I wouldn’t stand by and let that happen but then neither will people like Bill and Kevin."
Kherallah also claims that Wright should now give his shareholding to the recently-formed fans’ initiative Our QPR, which has raised over £20,000.
"What I wanted to do more than anything else was end the era of Chris Wright and that included Nick Blackburn going," he said. "He should give his shares to the fans. That would be a gesture on his part and I think it would be the right thing. It would be a sign that the club is making a new start."