Rangers takeover 'completely separate from the 49ers' as NFL giants distance themselves from Ibrox deal
NFL giants not directly involved in Rangers buyout
Jed York, the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, has insisted that the franchise has no direct financial involvement in the Rangers takeover deal.
The long-serving CEO has been grilled over the 49ers lack of spending this offseason, with questions raised over whether the more prudent approach was related to the upcoming acquisition of Rangers.
49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the NFL outfit, already owns Leeds United and is part of a consortium which is expected to complete a buyout of Rangers before the end of the season.
However, York dismissed any notion that the 49ers themselves will be funding the Rangers takeover deal, which is being fronted by US health insurance mogul Andrew Cavenagh.
"We haven't done anything there," York said. "Leeds is obviously under the umbrella, but those are completely separate from the 49ers. Where we can tie brands together and sort of take our best practices of operating and things like that, [we do,] but in terms of financials, they don't overlap at all."
It is understood that the Rangers takeover has already been agreed in principle with Cavenagh and his business partners, which include Paraag Marathe, the Leeds United chairman and CEO of 49ers Enterprises, set to secure a 51 per cent majority shareholding in the Ibrox club.
It is claimed that the owners-in-waiting hope to get the deal over the line before the end of April in order to start planning for next season with decisions to be made over the next permanent manager and whether to trigger the purchase clause in Vaclav Cerny's loan deal from German side Wolfsburg.
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