Keith Jackson introduces new Ibrox saviour ‘managing assets of £1.5bn’

Keith Jackson has named the mystery investor ready to sweep into the Blue Room of unsurpassed dignity as Stuart Gibson.

The Paisley born-businessman has been based in Asia since 1999 and is currently working in Japan as co-Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong based real-estate firm ESR.

Jackson famously introduced Craig Whyte as a billionaire in November 2010 but has contented himself with describing Gibson as having more than £1.5bn worth of assets under his management.

In the midst of a global financial crisis that started in China the Record reveals:

It’s understood Gibson is set to bankroll the club as part of a new £20m investment which will secure Rangers finances in the short to medium term.

But it’s anticipated Gibson will then go a stage further by buying up King’s shareholding – and becoming the key player behind the scenes.

A close source said: “Stuart is extremely excited about this opportunity because he’s been a massive Rangers supporter his whole life.

“He met George Taylor as part of a business deal and it was during those discussions that the idea was planted. The talks became very serious form that moment and now it looks as if the deal could be announced very shortly.”

To bankroll £20m of investment it would seem likely that Gibson will first become a director of the company which would require a period of due diligence.

Exploring the club accounts would reveal a Going Concern warning and £30m invested by current directors that have been converted into worthless shares.

Sports Direct, Hummel/Elite and Memorial Gardens are three companies that have legal actions underway against the Ibrox club who have no kit supplier for next season.

Taking on those cases and plugging the funding gap while buying out King and satisfying the existing directors is quite a tall order but the Record report doesn’t go into that sort of detail. Instead readers are informed that he was at the December League Cup Final defeat from Celtic at Hampden.

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A decade ago, a number of businessmen were introduced as potential saviours, enjoyed 15 minutes or days of publicity and attention then walked away from the toxic club owned by Dave Murray, Gibson looks set for a similar short-lived time in the limelight.

According to the ESR website Gibson is Executive Director and Co-CEO

Appointed as Director in 2016 and re-designated as Executive Director in February 2019, Mr. Stuart Gibson has been the co-CEO of our Group since January 2016 and was also a co-founder and CEO of the Redwood group. Mr. Gibson is responsible for overseeing ESR’s overall operations and business development. He has over 24 years of real estate development and investment experience in Asia, which includes 15 years in the Japanese industrial real estate sector. Mr. Gibson was formerly the country head of Prologis Japan, and former co-founder and co-CEO of AMB BlackPine, which was subsequently incorporated into Prologis. He was also the Chairman of AMB Property Corporation Japan Advisory Committee.

CLICK HERE for a Google search of Gibbo.