Whyte on brink of Gers takeover
Rangers fans will see a change of ownership at their club on Friday if Craig Whyte's takeover bid goes through as expected.
Press Association Sport understands that the Motherwell-born tycoon is in the final stages of completing the deal, reportedly worth around £52.5million, six months after first revealing his plans to the stock exchange.
After a positive day of talks in Edinburgh on Thursday between Whyte's camp, current owner Sir David Murray and members of the Ibrox board, a spokesman close to the deal told Press Association Sport: "Whyte's full team will be working late in to the night to get the final piece of the jigsaw with the hope that the deal will be concluded on Friday."
London-based Whyte's takeover bid turned into a protracted saga following the revelation in November that he was interested in taking over the cash-strapped Ibrox club.
The businessman was believed to be on the verge of completing his buy-out last month after agreeing a deal with majority shareholder Murray and main creditor Lloyds Banking Group which would clear the club's debts of around £22million.
However, the bid appeared to hit a stumbling block when Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston, part of an independent committee of Ibrox board members, cast doubts over the offer and revealed plans to explore an alternative deal.
Rangers non-executive director Paul Murray - who proposed the £25million rival plan - this week claimed Whyte's imminent takeover was not the right move for the club.
However, Johnston appeared to accept the deal was on the way to completion when he confirmed he will stand down from his post later this month, while alluding to some misgivings about Whyte's bid.
He told BBC Scotland: "A great deal of work has been done by the board and I'm very proud of that. I'm confident that the efforts of the board have improved the deal significantly for the benefit of the club.
"Our views will come out in the future and I'm comfortable with that, but I don't want to stand in the way of progress. I will resign as intended on May 16 but will be working hard until then to make sure Rangers secure the SPL title."
