Second Bid For Liverpool FC - 28/01/2007

Liverpool has received a second foreign takeover bid for the club, this time from George Gillett, owner of the Montreal Canadians ice hockey club. The club is still most likely to be sold to Dubai International Capital, owned by the Gulf State's crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Sameer al-Ansari, DIC chief executive, told reporters that he understood Mr Gillett had trumped DIC's offer. 'We understand he has made a counter offer of £5,000 a share. We offered £4,500 a share. The club has allowed hin to look at the books.' Mr al-Ansari was quoted as saying. He added that, despite the counter offer, he expected DIC's takeover to be completed within weeks. The deal was complicated, he added, because of the club board's desire to tie new owners to funding a move out of its Anfield stadium to a new 60,000-seater venue, requiring an injection of £200m.