Neil Lal Reveals Rangers Takeover Ambition Amid Leicester Approach

Scottish-Indian businessman Neil Lal has revealed that his consortium would be interested in buying Rangers if an opportunity to acquire the Ibrox club emerges in the future.

The Scottish Sun reported that Lal, chairman and president of the Indian Councils of Scotland and the United Kingdom, has assembled a group of Indian businesses which is exploring a takeover of Leicester City.

Lal said the consortium has written to Leicester seeking financial information after owners King Power were reported to be seeking more than £ 200m for the club.

However, he also made clear that securing a football venture in Scotland forms part of its wider thinking.

The businessman believes Rangers can improve both commercially and on the pitch, with India and the wider Asian market central to his vision for increasing merchandising and streaming income.

Those additional revenues, he argued, could ultimately support greater investment in the squad.

He told SunSport: “If the opportunity came up, we would buy the full stake,” while acknowledging that “right now it’s a bit too early” following the recent change of control at Ibrox.

An American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises purchased a majority stake in Rangers in May 2025.

At the takeover’s announcement, the new leadership committed to investing £20m and set out a strategy centred on performance and long-term financial sustainability.

Lal, however, would prefer full ownership to a partnership if a stake became available at the right price. 

His outline also includes expanding Ibrox to at least 60,000 seats and developing a hotel and restaurant to create further matchday and non-matchday revenue.

It is an ambitious concept which would require planning, funding and approval before becoming realistic.

However, neither Lal nor his consortium has previously worked in football. Likewise, he accepted that experienced executives would therefore be required to handle operations.

Lal also suggested that former players could advise on recruitment and sales instead of the owners attempting to control football decisions themselves.

This is not his first connection with Rangers, though. In 2022, the Indian Councils he led gave the club an award recognising its work on community relations, diversity and inclusion through the Everyone Anyone campaign.

Nevertheless, Lal has made no Rangers offer yet and has not suggested that the current owners intend to sell.

His comments amount to a long-term ambition, leaving his consortium’s approach to Leicester as the test of whether its plans to enter football can progress.