Bill back in the hunt for Rangers

By TODAY

Photo: TNP

SINGAPORE - Barely three weeks after it looked over, the bid by the consortium led by Singaporean Bill Ng to land embattled Scottish Premier League giants Glasgow Rangers is on again.

And in a surprising twist, he could now have the club at just half of his group's initial offer of £20 million (S$40.4 million).

This after American tycoon Bill Miller withdrew his on Tuesday (yesterday morning, Singapore time), which left Rangers, already mired in debts of about £55.4 million, hanging by a thread as they are expected to run out of money by the end of this month.

Without any bids on the table, it triggered a desperate flurry of calls by club administrators Duff & Phelps to interest other parties and for Ng, who is chairman of S-League club Hougang United, to revive his bid.

With the possibility of the 54-time Scottish Premier League champions slipping off the footballing map, they are now even willing to listen to offers that match or are even lower than Miller's £11.6 million offer - almost half of what the club expected when they went into administration in mid-February.

Ng withdraws bid for Rangers

By TODAY

SINGAPORE - Frustrated at the bidding process, Mr Bill Ng and his Singapore consortium yesterday withdrew their £20 million (S$40 million) bid to take over Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers FC, five days after former club director Paul Murray's Blue Knights consortium also pulled out of the bidding process.

Mr Ng and his consortium were the front-runners to take over the 54-time Scottish Premier League champions after the Blue Knights had failed to raise the £500,000 fee four days ago, which would have allowed them to enter into exclusive talks with the club administrators.

Mr Ng, the chairman of S-League club Hougang United, issued a statement around 7pm yesterday to announce the decision to withdraw from the bid.

Rangers in crisis: Singapore bid chief Bill Ng praised for transforming Hougang United's fortunes

By DailyRecord.co.uk

Photo: ST

PROSPECTIVE Rangers owner Bill Ng transformed his Singaporean football club from also-rans to cup finalists by investing in youth and paying off debts, according to a journalist from his home country.

Ng moved into pole position to become preferred bidder for the club last night after former Rangers director Paul Murray's Blue Knights consortium took a step back from the process.

Ng is chairman of Hougang United in Singapore and claims to have been a Rangers supporter since watching them win the European Cup Winners' Cup on television in 1972.

Sanjay Nair, a sports reporter for the Straits Times in Singapore, told BBC Radio Scotland: "Two years ago he burst on to the football scene when he bought local team Hougang United. Before that not much was known about him.

"Before he took over Hougang United they were always last or second last, but since he took over they reached the Singapore League Cup final and that's a big thing, and now they are a mid-table team.

"That's a big thing because in Singapore players are on one or two-year deals so a chairman can't come in and just pump money in to the transfer market.

"He invested through youth development, developed the reserve team, decreased the debt and he gave a former national team player his first chance at coaching and he led them to the League Cup final."

Knights out! Murray backs off from Rangers bid as Ticketus link up with Ng

By MailOnline

The Blue Knights have dramatically stepped out of the race to take control of Rangers after backers Ticketus prepared to switch camps to Bill Ng’s Singapore consortium.

The shock development appears to place Ng’s group in pole position to claim preferred-bidder status.

American businessman Bill Miller also remains in the running, with a two-way fight now underway to take the stricken Ibrox outfit into overseas ownership.

It’s understood there is anger among the Blue Knights at how Ticketus have behaved in the process after the Paul Murray-headed consortium were on the brink of being named as preferred bidder last Friday. A £500,000 deposit was required, which Ticketus refused to supply.

Hougang United chief a key figure in Rangers FC bid

By Straits Times

Picture: TNP

He is among S'porean group in financial sector to seek club ownership

Hougang United chairman Bill Ng has emerged as one of the key figures behind an audacious Singapore bid to take over Scottish football giants Rangers FC.

The 52-year-old, who is a director at private equity firm Financial Frontiers, told The Straits Times on Thursday that he is one of a 'handful of Singaporeans from the financial industry' to table a bid for the debt-stricken club.

The Singaporeans are one of four parties who have submitted offers for the reigning Scottish champions. The other bidders are the Blue Knights group led by former Rangers director Paul Murray, Chicago-based Club 9 Sports and an unknown German firm.