Newcastle owner Mike Ashley sells off Rangers shares

Britain Soccer Football - Newcastle United v Barnsley - Sky Bet Championship - St James' Park - 7/5/17 Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Lee Charnley in the stands Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Lee Smith Livepic/Files

(Reuters) - Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has sold his Rangers shares to Hong Kong-based investor Julian Wolhardt and supporters group Club 1872, chairman of the Scottish Premiership team Dave King said.

The 52-year-old billionaire, who founded British retailing group Sports Direct, had a nine percent stake in Rangers International Football Club PLC since 2014.

Wolhardt and Club 1872 each invested one million pounds ($1.27 million) to increase fan ownership to 11 percent and King is hopeful about the future of the club.

"This is the partnership I want to see lead Rangers forward," King told the club website (rangers.co.uk).

"Rangers run by those who care for it most... a mature and structured organisation which can galvanise and represent our supporters and use their skills and talents to drive our Club back to the top of Scottish and European Football."

Rangers signed a new commercial deal with Sports Direct last week which includes re-negotiated terms from the older deal.

($1 = 0.7867 pounds)

(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru)