A leading Scotch whiskey magnate has claimed he would be open to investing in Rangers following a public call to arms from John Gilligan.
GlenAllachie master distiller Billy Walker is a lifelong bluenose and one of the most experienced and well-known characters in the Scotch whiskey industry.
The millionaire distiller has worked with several distilleries over the past 60 years, even selling his BenRiach Distillery Company to Jack Daniel’s for £285 million in 2016.
Now, after the ‘alarmingly disappointing’ defeat to Kilmarnock, Walker has told the Rangers Review he would be willing to invest in Ibrox on one crucial condition.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Whiskey guru ‘would love to invest’ in Rangers
“Would I actually want to invest? Yes, if the conditions were right,” Walker said the Rangers review.
“Would I be the lead investor? No. That would be for someone else.
“I have had conversations in the past, but parallel to what is happening in the football world, there is also what is happening in my own business world.
“There is always demand. Questions are always asked when opportunities arise, and that’s life.
“I wouldn’t be against investing in the club. John Gilligan is an excellent man, he is a top businessman. Whenever there is a call to arms, John is prepared to step up.
‘But sure, I am one Rangers Fan, if the environment is good, probably yes, why not? But if I were to invest, I would want to have a say in the direction the club goes.”
Rangers ‘open to all’ who invest at Ibrox
What that would be in detail is unclear, but Billy Walker is clear that he sees one fundamental flaw in the Rangers squad at this moment.
When he tells the Rangers Review he believes the club needs more ‘Scottish warriors’ on the park to win the battle north of the border, it is a message that would be echoed by a number of supporters.
With Walker still a season ticket holder and an ‘eternal optimist’, the whiskey expert’s words could perhaps be picked up by someone within Rangers’ corridors of power.
That’s because interim chairman John Gilligan stepped back from claims by ex-chairman and majority shareholder Dave King that the club had rejected American investment in the past.
Gilligan insists that any investment in the club must be the right investment and that Rangers ‘don’t want one person to own the club’.
It’s a setup that could suit Billy Walker, who is clearly open to the idea of bringing more money to Rangers.
‘There will be new investments in the club’ Gilligan told the press in September.
“But to be honest, Dave is talking about new investment, but he doesn’t want to invest, so I don’t know exactly where he means the investment will come from.”
When asked whether there would be new investments, Gilligan immediately replied: “Yes, there will be.
“The current investors have invested heavily in recent years and are prepared to do so again.
“We are open to anyone approaching us with investments, as you would.
“We get approaches from all over the world from different sources, but it has to be the right people, it has to be the right circumstances and it has to be for the right number of shares.
“We don’t want one person to own the club.”
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