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Articles on football club takeovers and related issues
As the case concerning Liverpool FC began in the High Court later this morning, Singapore billionaire Peter Lim trumped the New England Sport Ventures (NESV) offer for the club with a bid of £320m. However, Mill Financial, the hedge fund who now own George Gillett’s shares have made a bid that would pay off all debt and commit to spend £100m on the new stadium.
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.
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.
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.
How has New England Sports Ventures (NESV) made a success of the Boston Red Sox after they bought them in 2002? Two years later, the team won the baseball World Series for the first time in 86 years. However, the formula deployed with the Red Sox will not transfer easily to football and Liverpool. Indeed, there are a number of differences.
The battle over the control of Liverpool Football Club will now go to the High Court. The hearing is most likely to take place next week, although it could happen as early and tomorrow. Tom Hicks and George Gillett could then appeal any judgement. One source close to the situation told the Financial Times that he expected a ‘blizzard of litigation’. The FT thinks that one consequence could be a higher offer than has been made so far.
Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman, has said that New England Sport Ventures, the potential owners of the club, are an outfit who know the importance of winning on and off the pitch.
Radio 5 is reporting that Liverpool FC has been sold to the company that owns the Boston Red Sox and Sky is carrying a similar story. The sale in principle is confirmed in a