A Texas court has delayed the sale of Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) just as it was about to take place. A temporary restraining injunction has been granted to Tom Hicks. Hicks is claiming $1.6bn in dollars or around £1bn which is somewhat ironic given that he is the person who has been blocking a sale.
A Texas court has delayed the sale of Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) just as it was about to take place. A temporary restraining injunction has been granted to Tom Hicks. Hicks is claiming $1.6bn in dollars or around £1bn which is somewhat ironic given that he is the person who has been blocking a sale.
How can a Texas court have jurisdiction in the UK? Well, it doesn’t except in one particular sense. If the Liverpool board was to proceed with the sale they would be in contempt of court. This would be a serious matter for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who have extensive interests in the United States, as it would be for Martin Broughton as chairman of British Airways and for NESV as an American company.
The deadline by which the loans have to be repaid is now looming and with it the risk of administration and a nine point penalty which threaten losses of £40m-£50m through relegation and lead NESV to walk away from the deal. However, RBS will want to do all they can to avoid such a scenario which would cause them reputational damage and give them a problem (disposing of the club) they could do without.
So for now it’s Liverpool 1, Hicks Texans 1 but it’s all to play for. Unfortunately, there are many twists and turns to come yet.