Whisky veteran Billy Walker has revealed he would be interested in investing in Rangers.
However, the GlenAllachie Master Distiller has insisted he would not want to be the primary investor in the Light Blues – and would want “to have a say about the direction” that the club is heading in. The lifelong Ibrox diehard found success after developing the Ballantines, Inver House and Burn Stewart distilleries and would go on to form the BenRiach Distillery Company in 2003.
That would be sold to Jack Daniels’ owners Brown-Forman for £285m in 2016. And last year, Walker saw GlenAllachie surpass the £20m turnover mark. After stepping into the role as chairman in Govan, John Gilligan assured fans that fresh investment was coming under the current regime. Former chairman Dave King had claimed that it would take £50m to meet short and medium term objectives of the Scottish Premiership giants.
And while Walker has insisted he would not become the primary investor at Ibrox, he has opened the door to putting his own cash into the club. He told the Rangers Review: “Running a football club must be extremely difficult as there is so much uncertainty.
“You have to put a lot of trust into the managerial team and you have to oversee the inside of the business and make sure the club is on the right track. You’ve got to have people with a football knowledge and you’ve got to trust the manager that he’s going in the right direction.
“The reality is the board has the fiscal responsibility to make sure all the correct financial levers are in the right places and they can see a future, that’s very important. It’s really important to see past the next week and certainly the next five years and determine where the club is going.
“In reality, would I like to invest? Yes, if the circumstances were right. Would I be the principal investor? No. That would be for somebody else.
“I’ve had conversations in the past but in parallel with what’s happening in the football world, there’s also what’s happening in my own business world. There’s always demand. You’re always asked questions when opportunities come up and that’s life.
“I wouldn’t be against investing in the club. John Gilligan is an excellent man, he’s a top businessman. Any time there is a call to arms, John has been prepared to step up.
“But sure, I’m a Rangers fan, if the environment’s right, probably yes why not? But if I was investing I would want to have a say about the direction of where the club is going.”