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The credit crunch appears to be having some impact on Liverpool's plans for a new stadium at Stanley Park. The futuristic designs submitted by a Texan company in July are to be replaced by what chief executive Rick Parry described as a 'slightly downgraded' version. However, Parry denied that the stadium plan would be scrapped or that it would be downgraded from a 70,000 to a 60,000 capacity. There has been no comment on reports that project costs had soared from £400m to around £700m. Liverpool FC declined to comment on reports that the investment vehicle Americam owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett used to buy the club wanted to secure the £350 debt against the club, instead of their own assets. The club's management was said to be keen to stop this from happening, having been given assurances when the pair took over that Liverpool's finances would not be saddled with debt. The Americans want to re-finance the £298m they borrowed from the Royal Bank of Scotland to pay for the deal. It was though that they were close to a deal with RBS and American bank Wachovia, but there were reports at the weekend that Wachovia had walked away. It has been admitted by sources close to the owners that the re-financing has taken longer than expected, but it is still hoped that the funding will be in place by January.
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