Liverpool fans will be delighted to hear that the American owners have lost their case in the High Court. Livepool supporters outside the court sang ‘You’ll never walk alone.’
This court decision makes it more likely that New England Sports Ventures (NESV) will become the club’s new owners, even though two other bids have been made. There is still another court case to come, but that is unlikely to stop the sale. The owner of NESV, John Henry, declared his delight with the outcome on Twitter and congratulated Liverpool supporters.
Liverpool fans will be delighted to hear that the American owners have lost their case in the High Court. Livepool supporters outside the court sang ‘You’ll never walk alone.’
This court decision makes it more likely that New England Sports Ventures (NESV) will become the club’s new owners, even though two other bids have been made. There is still another court case to come, but that is unlikely to stop the sale. The owner of NESV, John Henry, declared his delight with the outcome on Twitter and congratulated Liverpool supporters.
Mr Justice Floyd stated, ‘I am not prepared to grant any relief.’ He said. ‘If I did it would risk stopping the sale and purchase agreement going ahead.’ That would be damaging to the club and Royal Bank of Scotland.
In his closing statement, Mr Justice Floyd said he would do nothing to prevent the sale of the club, branding the current state of Liverpool as ‘unsatisfactory.’ ‘The owners do not have an absolute right to veto a sale,’ he said
Hicks and Gillett asked for leave to appeal, but this was refused, although they could still apply to the appeal court. They and their legal advisers are still deciding whether to do so.
It seems likely that Hicks and Gillett will walk away with a loss of £70m for each of them and this may discourage leveraged buy outs in future. The judge has also ruled that they will have to pay the costs of Royal Bank of Scotland which could be quite substantial.