LIVERPOOL £300M SALE TO FACE LEGAL CHALLENGE
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Buradasınız >> Ana Sayfa HABERLER & MAKALELER Kriz Diğer Yazarlar LIVERPOOL £300M SALE TO FACE LEGAL CHALLENGE

LIVERPOOL £300M SALE TO FACE LEGAL CHALLENGE

 Soccer Investor- 7 October 2010

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Premier League club Liverpool's board of directors have announced the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) despite opposition from American co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

 

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton accepted one of the "two excellent offers" on the table and the club will be sold to Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry subject to Premier League approval and the resolution of the board dispute with the co-owners. Central to the need to sell the club has been the October 15 deadline for the repayment or refinancing of £282m of loans - owed principally to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).. Hicks has been attempting to shift the debt to an alternative loan company but the rest of the board opposed the proposed restructuring last month. Hicks remained steadfast in his belief there was a profit to be made from the sale of Liverpool but, with the prospect of RBS having to call in their debt and possibly take control at Anfield, a process that would involve putting the club into administration with it incurring a 10 point penalty, the value of the club has been falling. Liverpool will be sold for a price of £300m which will cover the RBS debt, but would not return a profit to Hicks and Gillett. A club statement from Broughton read: "I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive. The Board decided to accept NESV's proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at Red Sox. We've met them in Boston, London and Liverpool over several weeks and I am immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club. By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team. I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale." The boardroom battle between Hicks and Gillett and chairman Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre escalated to a new level on Tuesday night when the American duo attempted a coup. Hicks and Gillett, who reportedly rejected both offers to buy their stake in the club tried to replace Purslow and Ayre with Hicks's son, Mack, and Lori Kay McCutcheon, the financial controller at the Texan's company Hicks Holdings. The reshuffle was rebuffed as the two club officials, backed by the chairman, out-voted the Americans three to two and on Wednesday morning Broughton announced to club had accepted the offer from NESV over a rival proposal from an unnamed Asian investor. Hicks and Gillett are expected to explore legal channels to oppose the sale but a statement from Broughton, Purslow and Ayre pointedly expressed they would "continue to explore every possible route to achieving a sale of the club at the earliest opportunity''. Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton expects New England Sports Ventures (NESV) to complete their £300 million takeover of the club "in about a week". Speaking about the sale, Broughton said: " I would hope we will get the judgement by the end of next week." He added: "The key thing is the court case. We need to go to the court to get a declaratory judgement ... then the buyers can complete the sale. We have to get Premier League approval and I'm certain that's not going to be an issue." The Premier League have confirmed in statement they have been kept informed of developments at Anfield and expected the board to complete all the necessary processes by Friday so that the sale can proceed. ESPNsoccernet, however, has been told that the legal battle could be long and messy."Who knows how long that could take, it could take a long time," a Liverpool source revealed.

 

By FIFA Confederation

Liverpool fans' group Spirit of Shankly (SoS) have been protesting against Hicks and Gillett's tenure for two years but the news that the club will be passing to another set of American owners may dampen the celebrations over the sale, but a source, well placed during the sale negotiations, told ESPNsoccernet: "The fans might be worried about American owners, but in truth 95% of this process was getting rid of the existing owners, something the fans have been campaigning for, and this is another step toward it, although it's not quite over yet. It is understandable that the fans are worried given what has happened, but you cannot judge the new owners on day one. You have to judge them after year one, or even year two or three." A spokesman for SoS said the supporters' group had "cautious optimism'' regarding the proposed new owners, but the group commented on its website. “ It is disappointing that none of the potential purchase groups are yet to engage with Spirit of Shankly and we would expect that to happen now before any sale is concluded so the issues most closely concerning supporters can be discussed. The supporters' concerns are how they propose to purchase the Club, how their business model is different to the current owners, their measurable ambitions for the Club, the investment they intend to make on the playing side, what their stadium solution is likely to be and also their attitude in relation to allowing supporters to invest and be represented within the Club.” Broughton said: "This was frankly their last chance to leave Liverpool with their heads high and they have chosen to go this route. It is a difficult issue. Part of me taking on the role - and I was appointed by Tom and George - was that they gave a written undertaking that only I could change the board, they wrote that into the articles of the two companies Kop Football and Kop Holdings. They also gave a written undertaking to RBS that they would not frustrate any reasonable sale and this is frankly a flagrant abuse of those two written undertakings." Broughton believes the prospective new owners could pursue plans for a new stadium or may choose instead to upgrade Anfield. The Red Sox's upgraded their historic home Fenway Park rather than move to a new site. “They have invested a lot of money in players there and they are committed to making the necessary investment in Liverpool. At Fenway they chose not to build a new stadium. They will want to make sure that they do the right thing, (but) we will have a stadium which holds sixty-odd thousand. Whether that is the new stadium as designed or not, that is not a commitment, but will we have stadium development? Yes." Broughton admitted the sale process had been a long one, saying: "We have contacted hundreds of different people and at the end of that process we had two valid bids, both from excellent prospective vendors, on the table competing each other which I think demonstrates exactly what the market price is. "The price is £300 million, £200 million in writing down all of the acquisition debt, taking on some of the additional working capital debts and other liabilities."

 

 

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