Re: LFC SOLD to NESV! (We know this as the fat man's been stung)
Dallas judge lifts restraining order blocking sale of Tom Hicks-owned Liverpool soccer club 8:06 AM CT
09:36 AM CDT on Friday, October 15, 2010
By ERIC TORBENSON and BRENDAN CASE/The Dallas Morning News
The long arm of Texas’ judicial system retracted Friday when state District Court Judge Jim Jordan dissolved a restraining order holding up the sale of Liverpool Football Club.
Jordan signed the order just before 8 a.m. It had been filed electronically at 1:30 a.m. Dallas time by attorneys for Dallas financier Tom Hicks and Colorado businessman George Gillett.
The lack of a restraining order clears the way for the sale of Liverpool to Boston Red Sox owners New England Sports Ventures, controlled by John W. Henry, which could be formalized in mere hours.
The team’s three English board members, including chairman Martin Broughton, support the deal, which is valued at $475 million.
English courts ruled Thursday that Hicks and his attorneys can’t interfere with that process. In district court this morning, Jordan seemed to agree with attorneys for NESV that Hicks’ lawyers were asking for the same sort of relief here in Texas that the British courts had already denied.
“Would you agree that the case in England covers the same issues here?†Jordan asked Geoffrey Harper of Fish & Richardson PC, representing Hicks in the 7 a.m. hearing. “It’s all pertaining to the sale of the club, no?â€
Harper agreed that Hicks’ stance was that a sale was inevitable but that he retained rights to limit his losses, and hence would still bring a $1.6 billion damage claim against Liverpool’s board of directors.
Friday’s actions ended the restraining order and Hicks’ motions to hold Liverpool’s board in contempt of Jordan’s order. The damage claim fight is just beginning.
NESV’s attorney, Haynes & Boones’ George Bramblett, said before the hearing that he thought the withdrawal of the request for a restraining order reflected a lack of confidence in the tactic. “I can only assume they’re doing it because they expect to lose†on the arguments to keep it in place, he said before the hearing.
The two sides in filings this week had argued about whether the Texas court had a greater stake to the parties at hand or whether the issues should have been fought in London.
The club’s sale coincides with a deadline today related to $375 million in debt owed the Royal Bank of Scotland. Hicks is reported to be searching for funding that would make the bank whole and keep him in the game, though time appears to be running short on that effort, according to British press reports.
Hicks, through attorney Steve Stodghill, vowed to bring all legal forces against NESV and continued to call the tactics used to force Hicks and Gillett out an “epic swindle.†Both owners, who bought the team for $370 million in 2007, are expected to lose millions of dollars if the sale proceeds as planned.
Four Liverpool fans wearing jerseys attended Friday's hearing. Liverpool, struggling in English Premier League play, faces off against Everton later today.
“We just want what’s best for the club,†said Tony Godfrey of Fort Worth, who was the only one of the four not originally from London. “Look what Mr. Henry has done with the Red Sox.â€
Today is shaping up to provide a sobering coda for Hicks’ sports ownership era in North Texas. Along with losing Liverpool, an investment he had counted on making money with, the Texas Rangers baseball club plays game one of the American League Championship series in Arlington Friday night. Hicks sold the Rangers through bankruptcy court this summer.
On the brighter side, Hicks’ Dallas Stars – which are for sale – did beat rival Detroit Thursday night.