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Singapore billionaire Peter Lim, one of the country’s wealthiest men, thinks that his offer for Liverpool is better than that of New England Sports Ventures (NESV). He thinks that he was the preferred bidder for the club until hours before the decision in favour of the Red Sox’s owners was announced. Sources close to him think that the NESV offer may have been preferred because they were prepared to pa
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC versus Hicks and others is one of a number of cases listed for the High Court tomorrow. Liverpool fans are expected to protest outside.
New England Sports Ventures (NESV) are unhappy about some issues following their financial inspection of the books, although they are understandably guarded about what cropped up in due diligence that gave rise to concern. They are not, of course, directly involved in the court action.
Tom Hicks has joined forces with American hedge fund Mill Financial in a last ditch attempt to prevent the club being sold against his wishes. Mill Financial has, in effect, taken control of 50 per cent of Liverpool’s shares after George Gillett defaulted on the loan it gave him to finance his half of the buyout of the club. However, the efforts of Hicks will be to no avail if he loses in court this week.
Manchester United generated operating profits of £100.8m in the year to 30 June, the first Premier League club to break through the £100m barrier. New commercial deals helped to push revenues up by 2.9 per cent to £286.4m. Commercial revenues now make up 28.9 per cent of income, but match day revenues were down 7.9 per cent to £108.8m and now represent 35 per cent of turnover.
Liverpool would almost certainly be docked nine points if the eventual route to ownership for New England Sports Ventures (NESV) involved going into administration. Earlier indications from the Premier League suggested administration of Kop Holdings would not fall foul of insolvency rules on the grounds that the insolvency would apply to the holding company rather than the club itself. However, the situation has been clarified and NESV have been told that administration of Kop Holdings would incur a 9-point penalty.
Dundee Football Club is to enter administration. The Division 1 club has been unable to negotiate a settlement with the tax authorities over an outstanding £365,000 bill. The club had been hoping to make a one-off payment and benefactor Calum Melville lodged a payment of £200,000 with the club’s solicitors earlier in the week.
Glasgow’s Partick Thistle are encountering cash flow problems. The Jags live in the shadow of ‘The Old Firm’, although they appeal to a somewhat different clientele. It is now twelve years since the club’s fans stopped it going to the wall with a ‘Save the Jags campaign’. It is anticipated that in this new crisis the club will make an appeal to fans for funds.
John W Henry, the prospective owner of Liverpool Football Club, is not a benefactor in the mould of Sheikh Mansour or Roman Abramovich. If he had been placed in the recent 4-4-2 rich list he would have come in 27th. What he does have at Boston Red Sox is a track record of reviving a tired brand with a great past.
Bristol City has received a boost to its proposed £92m stadium development at Ashton Vale. The football club chairman, Steve Lansdown, sold £58m of shares in Hargreaves Lansdown, the company he co-founded with the intention of partially funding the stadium project. Some of the money will go into a new ‘green’ private equity venture and Mr Lansdown declined to confirm that most of the cash would go towards funding the football club’s plans.
A ten point plan has been produced to help Manchester City being disqualified from the Champions League on financial grounds should they qualify this season. It does not contain anything particularly novel, but it is a good summary of the various options available on the revenue generating and expenditure reduction sides.