Rangers boardroom battle comes to a head at annual general meeting The Rangers boardroom battle came to a head as shareholders will place their votes at the annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday. After a long-running dispute between an opposition faction and the current regime, Rangers International Football Club plc shareholders took part in voting on several proposals. The current company board is up for re-election at the meeting, which began at Ibrox at 10.30am, while opposition shareholders were looking to appoint new directors to Rangers International. Under company legislation, resolutions put forward at annual general meetings require the support of 51% of all votes cast at the event. Votes were cast during the meeting, but the results will not be collated and released by Rangers until later on Thursday. In the run-up to the AGM, Isle of Man hedge fund Laxey Partners Limited, the biggest single shareholder with an 11.64% stake, pledged its support to the current board. Chief executive Graham Wallace, chairman David Somers, finance director Brian Stockbridge, non-executive James Easdale and fellow director Norman Crighton are the current board members who were seeking re-election to their posts at the AGM. Rebel shareholders were seeking to appoint ex-chairman Malcolm Murray, former oldco director Paul Murray, property adviser Scott Murdoch and former human resources director at BT Alex Wilson as Rangers International directors. Laxey's pledge to support the current board left it with the backing of at least 46.25% of the company's share voting rights. Also supporting the current regime are a several of the original Sevco consortium backers, such as Blue Pitch Holdings and Margarita Holding Funds Trust. Both groups have transferred their voting rights by proxy to Sandy Easdale, brother of non-executive director James Easdale, who holds the rights to 26.62% of the Rangers International share capital. Earlier this years, Rangers International filed its first set of annual accounts which showed that the company had run at an operating loss of £14.3m in the 13 months to the end of June this year. As the meeting began, Rangers International released a statement to the London Stock Exchange outlining chief executive Mr Wallace's plans for his role. These include aiming to "protect and cherish Ibrox and our other great facilities to maximise business impact." He also pledged, over the next 120 days following the AGM, to "re-energise" the workers at Rangers, as well as "complete a detailed business review." Mr Wallace stated: "It is reasonable to assume that in order to take the club back to competing at the top levels domestically and in Europe that this will be the case. However, this funding will only be sought once we have completed a robust business planning process that will allow us to engage with shareholders and potential investors from the platform of a well thought out strategic plan. During the meeting, Mr Wallace stated Rangers' "Our cost structure is currently too high for the top division, never mind for the lower leagues." He also told shareholders: "Perceptions of boardroom turmoil and unrest are getting in the way of securing much needed corporate partners." Fan shareholders attending the meeting gave some of the board an angry reception when they arrived, while finance director Brian Stockbridge was singled out for criticism by some supporters over his handling of the company's finances including a £200,000 bonus he received for Rangers winning the Third Division.