Tom Hicks is making a bid to secure control of Liverpool. An opportunity has arisen because his business partner George Gillett was at risk of defaulting on a personal loan from Mill Financial. However, some sources are reporting that Gillett is in talks to extend the loan.
Tom Hicks is making a bid to secure control of Liverpool. An opportunity has arisen because his business partner George Gillett was at risk of defaulting on a personal loan from Mill Financial. However, some sources are reporting that Gillett is in talks to extend the loan.
Hicks has been in discussions about refinancing the loan from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) which needs renewing in early October. He has talked to the American bank FBR Capital Markets among others.
Hicks has met with the Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton in London. The Liverpool board would have to approve any deal and the Americans could be outvoted three to two. However, under company law the board is obliged to take account of the interests of shareholders, in this case Hicks and Gillett. That obligation can be overriden in certain circumstances, however.
The last thing RBS wants is to have to take control of Liverpool so it may be prepared to extend the loan to the Americans. It may be classified as a toxic debt, but RBS has been making quite a lot of money out of it.
Liverpool fans are not likely to welcome this development, to put it mildly. However, a continuing problem has been the absence of a credible buyer for the club.