LFC SOLD to NESV.

[Paddy]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

PICTURE REMOVED.

Paddy, this thread is going to be our most popular for sometime & that picture isnt best on here as people will want to view the thread in work, therefore NSFW tags dont cut it

Ta.

 

[Woland]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

They're being all brendan about him.

 

[Y1]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190254#msg1190254 date=1286382193]
FWIW, I can't think of any Singapore businessman who would want to buy a Premier League club. Maybe property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (the guy who brought F1 racing to Singapore) or Ng Teng Fong's family.

I dont think my country's sovereign wealth fund would be interested as well.
[/quote]

Are the Ongs & Ngs football crazy & red?

 

[Y1]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=Avmenon link=topic=41783.msg1190275#msg1190275 date=1286383611]
[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190237#msg1190237 date=1286380833]

McMahon was/is on the boards of the group btw, just googled it because I remembered something odd about his association with the group.

That group brought LFC to Singapore last year. McMahon involvement was dubious, now that the group is in trouble, Mcmahon has been pulled from ESPN
[/quote]

He's not on ESPN anymore?
[/quote]

Since the start of the new season there are now so many football channels plus HD and I have yet to see him on any panel

 

[Fallon]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=41783.msg1190506#msg1190506 date=1286394982]
hicks[quote author=TheBunnyman link=topic=41783.msg1190487#msg1190487 date=1286394547]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=41783.msg1190475#msg1190475 date=1286394179]
two points;

1. if this goes to court I'm sure hick's case will be the board we're looking out for the owners interests, and he'd kind of have a point seeing as the owners would make no money

2. even if the club goes into administration I'm sure hick will say if he'd been allowed to appointment his men on the board this (the clib going into admin) wouldn't have happened as they would have been able to push through refinace using the club as security.

I don't think this is as cut and dried as broughton thinks it is
[/quote]

Well, admittedly it's unlikely that a hugely successful businessman who's spent the last four months talking to lawyers and plotting his endgame in elaborate detail would know more about the likely outcome of this particular court case than you, Spider-Neil, a poster with spelling issues on a small internet forum called Six Crazy Minutes, but nevertheless, I think I'm going to back his judgment anyway. Call me an optimistic fool if you will...
[/quote]

it's got bugger all to do with spelling errors and my standing on the 6CM board (what's that got to do with anything).
when hicks goes to court his case will be the board should attmept to act in his interests as well as the clubs. you want to come out with smart arse answers be my guest but hick's lawers will be arguing the case not me.
[/quote]

Ohhh wiccle Spider, you wanna know what the piss easy, and almost ironclad, argument against that is? That if they had not acted, then the most likely scenario (cos if you can sort something out, you don't leave it till the last couple of weeks) would have been that the loans would have been defaulted on, the club would have been taken out of the yank's hands and they would have walked with nothing, that is not in their interest and this way they at least get most of the money they've put into the club back.

 

[peekay]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

Cant Harry Redknapp keep his mouth shut for once. Does he have to provide his opinion on everything and every other fracking player


"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it.

But, for all that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out "

 

[Fallon]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

STFU you wankstain of gargantuan proportions, get back to selling ya fucking bangers.

 

[DHSC]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190677#msg1190677 date=1286408830]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190254#msg1190254 date=1286382193]
FWIW, I can't think of any Singapore businessman who would want to buy a Premier League club. Maybe property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (the guy who brought F1 racing to Singapore) or Ng Teng Fong's family.

I dont think my country's sovereign wealth fund would be interested as well.
[/quote]

Are the Ongs & Ngs football crazy & red?
[/quote]

Not that I know off, that's why it's highly unbelievable that the second bidder is a Singapore consortium.

 

[Squiggles]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=peekay link=topic=41783.msg1190685#msg1190685 date=1286417227]
Cant Harry Redknapp keep his mouth shut for once. Does he have to provide his opinion on everything and every other fracking player


"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it.

But, for all that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out "
[/quote]

-Boots a ball in 'Arry's direction-

 

[Y1]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190687#msg1190687 date=1286417507]
[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190677#msg1190677 date=1286408830]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190254#msg1190254 date=1286382193]
FWIW, I can't think of any Singapore businessman who would want to buy a Premier League club. Maybe property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (the guy who brought F1 racing to Singapore) or Ng Teng Fong's family.

I dont think my country's sovereign wealth fund would be interested as well.
[/quote]

Are the Ongs & Ngs football crazy & red?
[/quote]

Not that I know off, that's why it's highly unbelievable that the second bidder is a Singapore consortium.
[/quote]

Singapore is now the Monaco/Switzerland of the east, I am not surprise if some foreign money launderer actually bid for LFC.

 

[DHSC]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190691#msg1190691 date=1286419216]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190687#msg1190687 date=1286417507]
[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190677#msg1190677 date=1286408830]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190254#msg1190254 date=1286382193]
FWIW, I can't think of any Singapore businessman who would want to buy a Premier League club. Maybe property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (the guy who brought F1 racing to Singapore) or Ng Teng Fong's family.

I dont think my country's sovereign wealth fund would be interested as well.
[/quote]

Are the Ongs & Ngs football crazy & red?
[/quote]

Not that I know off, that's why it's highly unbelievable that the second bidder is a Singapore consortium.
[/quote]

Singapore is now the Monaco/Switzerland of the east, I am not surprise if some foreign money launderer actually bid for LFC.
[/quote]

I'm still dirt poor though. >🙁

 

[localny]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

Tonight, I love the Sox.

Tonight, I say "I wish they all could be singaporean.....girls...."

God, things were so depressing two days ago, and now we're off on the yellow brick road...

 

[kingjulian]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=peekay link=topic=41783.msg1190685#msg1190685 date=1286417227]
Cant Harry Redknapp keep his mouth shut for once. Does he have to provide his opinion on everything and every other fracking player


"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it.

But, for all that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out "

[/quote]

What about RBS then? Arry doesn't have any sympathy for RBS and Wachovia? Who actually gave that fortune to Statler and Waldorf?

I think Harry Redknapp is just worried, that his top 4 finish is short lived.. He would much rather Liverpool continued on its downward trend than actually challenge at the top. He doesn't realize that he will not be competing for a CL spot with spurs again, regardless of where we are.

 

[kingjulian]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190697#msg1190697 date=1286421886]

I'm still dirt poor though. >🙁
[/quote]

Focus on the 5 Cs first DHSC, then you can win fair maiden's (a.k.a The Singapore Girl who is as sweet as Twix) heart.

 

[DHSC]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

*mutters something about Singaporean girls being materialistic bitches*

Well, not all, but quite a fair bit.

 

[DHSC]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

I think whatever happens today will be a slow news day as compared to what happened yesterday.

 

[localny]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190702#msg1190702 date=1286423971]
*mutters something about Singaporean girls being materialistic bitches*

Well, not all, but quite a fair bit.
[/quote]

DHSC, a pic of that specific Singaporean Gal is in order!

Are they generally so?

 

[Y1]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190697#msg1190697 date=1286421886]
[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190691#msg1190691 date=1286419216]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190687#msg1190687 date=1286417507]
[quote author=Y1 link=topic=41783.msg1190677#msg1190677 date=1286408830]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190254#msg1190254 date=1286382193]
FWIW, I can't think of any Singapore businessman who would want to buy a Premier League club. Maybe property tycoon Ong Beng Seng (the guy who brought F1 racing to Singapore) or Ng Teng Fong's family.

I dont think my country's sovereign wealth fund would be interested as well.
[/quote]

Are the Ongs & Ngs football crazy & red?
[/quote]

Not that I know off, that's why it's highly unbelievable that the second bidder is a Singapore consortium.
[/quote]

Singapore is now the Monaco/Switzerland of the east, I am not surprise if some foreign money launderer actually bid for LFC.
[/quote]

I'm still dirt poor though. >🙁
[/quote]

You are dirt poor because you spend beyond your means? Just joking...

It is not what you know but who you know boy. Be in the right crowd.

 

[ibromurph]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=peekay link=topic=41783.msg1190685#msg1190685 date=1286417227]
Cant Harry Redknapp keep his mouth shut for once. Does he have to provide his opinion on everything and every other fracking player


"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it.

But, for all that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out "



[/quote]

To be fair, whilst I have no sympathy for H+G for how they loaded the club with debt, it is true that they did back Rafa with millions upon millions (initally) and had we not failed so spectacularly in the transfer market (and then on the field) the situation wouldn't look so bleak as we'd have the money from the CL paying off their debts (and they could have possibly kept the usual 20m spend). Perhaps i'm talking bollocks here, as I don't know the exact figures. But it does seem like they bought us and funded Rafa on the premise that we'd make the CL guaranteed year in, year out. Much like Leeds, they relied on us being successful to maintain the side. Over Rafa's tenure our wage bill when up from about 68m to upto 100m.
Effectively, they were playing Russian Roulette with the future of the club. So now, that it's coming come crashing down, they've only got themselves to blame (especially as they lied about loading the club the debt).

Anyhow, ultimately, I'm just happy we'll be debt free and have a sensible business model to develop (Arsenal's model - invest young, bring in the crowds with good football, keep the team competitive with the odd big signing - is the only sensible way forward). Should we get in a better, more forward thinking manager with an eye for a good young player, I think most people's summer wishlists will be almost complete:

Hicks and Gillette out - Check
Rafa out - Check
Sensible owners in - Check?
Good young manager in - Summer 2011?

 

[DHSC]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=localny link=topic=41783.msg1190705#msg1190705 date=1286424308]
[quote author=DHSC link=topic=41783.msg1190702#msg1190702 date=1286423971]
*mutters something about Singaporean girls being materialistic bitches*

Well, not all, but quite a fair bit.
[/quote]

DHSC, a pic of that specific Singaporean Gal is in order!

Are they generally so?


[/quote]

Nah, I dont think she would like being plastered all over a forum.

Generally speaking, there is a perception that most are. However, the girls I have come across are not.

 

[ibromurph]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=41783.msg1190441#msg1190441 date=1286392521]
[quote author=ibromurph link=topic=41783.msg1190248#msg1190248 date=1286381701]
[quote author=TheBunnyman link=topic=41783.msg1190217#msg1190217 date=1286378617]
[quote author=tombrown link=topic=41783.msg1190212#msg1190212 date=1286377658]
Brendan is always right, ultimately ... always!
[/quote]

tom brownnose
[/quote]

Ha! This thread has been amazing. Comedy and all sorts.

I'm just astounded that so many of you 'experienced' posters still try to engage in a logical debate with Brendan (over anything the involves football). Rosco, Mark, Del, Grjt, Stu.. Like, how long have you been here for? Whatever good points you make will be overlooked, and he’ll quote you on one ‘subjective’ line that can be argued. Like really.. give up.. you’re not going to win.. Brendan’s got all day..

Brendan is good for 2 things:
1) Telling us how right he is. And to be fair, he has been right more than he has been wrong, although I think that’s because he’s been telling us how shite (or a cunt) everyone is within our club and to be honest, we’ve got more a lot more shite (and shitcunts) than we’ve got *anything remotely positive*.

2) Comedy. Love him or Hate him, you can’t deny he can be very funny. “Clunezâ€, “Slosemiâ€, “Fernando Meijerentesâ€, “The Invisible Cnutâ€, “Budgie faced Twatâ€, “The Twinsâ€. The man has talent for insulting people with creative nicknames. He’s even adapted his comedy to posters on here with Headwand, Massive Zlatan, Baldrick and my new favourite StulikesBudgie (I literally LOL’d when I read that - even though Stu has clearly stated of numerous occasions why he’s backed Roy; the more you squirm Stu, the more Brendan pushes)

3) That’s about it.

The old Brendan who used to post the occasional cracking 'football' thread (admist his slanging) has gone. Long gone. He’s spent so long selflessly batting away the loonies; the likes of Glock, Rebel, Kanwar and Momo FOR SCM, it was only a matter of time till it took its toll on him personally. I think that’s why he rightly gets a given a lot of leeway around here. I think the mods recognise his selfless work in the past, which is still (even in the latter years) filled with comedy.
Unfortunately though, like an old war hero who’s gone a little loopy, his problem is that he doesn’t know that the war is over and can no longer recognise the enemy. He used to be able to separate the loons from the decent posters. But now he simply scolds whoever has the temerity to disagree with him.

So what to do, eh?

Well we simply have got to keep him around here (he's done so much for us) and he’s the first you want to have your back should any loons from RAWKITES (or a Kanwar) ever decide to rear their ugly heads back on to SCMs.

I think Tombrownose’s approach could be the right one (it’s unexplored right?). Perhaps we should all just agree with him and bask in his general awesomeness.

[/quote]Hehe. I think thats pretty much perfect.
[/quote]

Heh. Brendan's a very interesting case. His evolution on this forum has been quite the sight.

Yourself, Spiderneil, Keni, Bunny, Mark, Glock and Brendan are perhaps the most interestings *cases* on this forum.

I've already *done* Neil. Now Brendan. I'm still collating my thoughts on the rest of you.

 

[Shadey]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

I wonder what Torres's thoughts are on this, will he stay beyond this season I wonder?

 

[RolandG]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

I'm thrilled that the Board done the right thing and secured the club's long-term future.

G&H don't have a hope in hell to block the sale if the articles were amended to solely grant the Board changing powers to Broughton and if the written undertakings to RBS actually exist.

The good times are on the horizon, now for the team to actually start winning again.

 

[spider-Neil]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

hopefully the court case goes without a hitch and the new owners are in place by the everton game.

hopefully their first action as new owners will be to sack the manager

 

[TheBunnyman]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

From the Guardian's blanket coverage today:

"In every transaction you must attempt to lower your risk and increase your potential to succeed. Every deal, every decision at this level has risk. You cannot shield yourself from risk. You cannot win with a long-term, conservative tone."

So said John Henry; not about the soya bean futures market, in which as a 25-year-old he successfully invested his family's money, and not about the losing bet on various commodities which cost his investment company many millions five years ago, but about a baseball club he and his business partners bought in 2002 for $700m (about £480m at the time).

The club were the Boston Red Sox, and Henry's words – unsentimental and detached, cold even – served only to heighten the suspicion that one of the most beloved "franchises" in all of American sport had fallen into the hands of a Wall Street vulture interested only in making a buck and making it fast.

Two years later, the suspicions were gone, washed away in the euphoria that greeted the Red Sox's victory in the 2004 World Series – the club's first since 1918. Since then, another World Series has been won and if this year's failure to reach baseball's play-offs has been a disappointment it has done little to diminish Henry's popularity among the club's vast fan base.

"There is a general acceptance that he [Henry] has been an extraordinarily successful owner of the Sox, not least because he has invested money – in player personnel and in the club's structure – at a scale that has been untypical of most other owners," says Professor Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College, Massachusetts, who has written extensively about the finances of baseball. "But that is the way he is; he believes that the best way to achieve success at a sports franchise is to put a winning team on the field."

Zimbalist's assessment of Liverpool's putative owner and his financial methods might go down well on Merseyside but, even more encouraging, perhaps, will be news of his low-key personality. While Tom Hicks, in particular, is bluff and often confrontational, Henry is a more reflective figure.

He does not shun the media in Boston – in fact, he has occasionally written and published blogs about the team – but he has never viewed his ownership of the club as a means of self-promotion. "There is no way he would go into Liverpool saying: 'Look at me, I'm a big shot and I am going to prove it by buying one of the most famous soccer clubs in the world. This is not about his ego," says someone who knows him well.

Maybe so, but in trying to buy one of the most famous football clubs in the world what exactly is Henry's ambition and what are his qualifications? After all, he grew up in Arkansas and southern California, the son of a farmer and a baseball fanatic who one day dreamed of owning the St Louis Cardinals, the club he supported from boyhood. According to a friend, he took a keen interest in this summer's World Cup and his recent reading has included Soccernomics, Simon Kuper's book on the use of statistics in football.

Henry's hopes of owning the Cardinals were never fulfilled but, having made his fortune through the 1980s in the stock market and in foreign exchange dealings, he bought a small share in the New York Yankees. Then, in 1999, he bought the Florida Marlins for a reported $158m.

Frustrated by the club's relatively small fan base (and income stream) and a failure to get public money to build a new stadium, he was on the lookout for another club. In 2001, the Red Sox were put up for sale and in early 2002 Henry, this time as part of a consortium, placed the winning bid.

Like Liverpool now, the Red Sox then had a storied past and a troubled present: a rickety stadium (at least in comparison to the modern standards of many of their rivals) at Fenway Park; and a devoted fan base, both locally and around the world. Yet if there are parallels between the two, there is one obvious difference: one is a baseball club, the other a football club.

Henry was steeped in baseball and its traditions. He understood the game, as he proved with the astute hiring of 28-year-old Theo Epstein as general manager and Bill James – the father of Sabermetrics, a method of evaluating baseball players that had been shunned through the years by the sport's old guard. Rather than build a new stadium, the Henry consortium refurbished Fenway Park, making a virtue of its age. Ticket prices went up – steeply – but that did not seem to matter so much to fans as performances on the field improved, and it mattered even less when a World Series victory was secured.

 

[TheBunnyman]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

Why is the board attempting to sell the club against the wishes of the owners?

Because under the terms of a refinancing agreement in April with the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is owed the majority of £237m, the club were put up for sale and Martin Broughton installed as independent chairman. But Tom Hicks and George Gillett have consistently sought to frustrate his efforts.

Why are Hicks and Gillett resisting the takeover?

Because the co-owners believe the £300m offered by New England Sports Ventures (NESV) and accepted by Broughton undervalues the club and will not give them a profit. In fact, they will be staring at a £144.4m loss in the form of the loans that they extended to the club's holding company via a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

What can they do?

Hicks has failed in a last-ditch bid to refinance the £237m loan and Tuesday night's move to oust two members of the board – the managing director, Christian Purslow, and the commercial director, Ian Ayre – and replace them with their own directors was an attempt to regain control. It was resisted by Broughton, secure in the knowledge that the pair signed an agreement that gave him final say on the make-up of the board and promised not to interfere in the sale process. The only avenue left is next week's court challenge on the legality of the move to sell the club against the wishes of the shareholders.

Why is Broughton convinced that he will be able to complete the sale?

He believes he has shown that the club have been extensively marketed and that the NESV offer is the best one on the table. He has taken extensive legal advice and believes the agreements signed by Hicks and Gillett are binding. Today's tour of the TV studios and the public statements were also partly an aggressive attempt to outflank the co-owners.

What if Hicks and Gillett win?

Even if they win next week's legal challenge – which most experts consider a remote possibility – RBS will still be able to put the club into administration on 15 October, the refinancing deadline. The bank could then take control of the club and immediately sell it – quite possibly to NESV. The co-owners are effectively caught in a pincer movement between the RBS deadline and the sale process.

Will the deal leave Liverpool debt-free?

Essentially, yes. The deal will involve the banks being repaid £200m, £40m going to cover other liabilities and £60m clearing debt relating to the proposed new ground in Stanley Park. That will leave a £37m working overdraft with RBS and a facility related to the new stadium. But although it is understood that NESV will pay for the acquisition with cash raised from its own shareholders, Broughton could not confirm whether it would also take on additional debt to do so.

 

[TheBunnyman]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

And a piece on Broughton:

Martin Broughton had, in public, barely talked about Liverpool since his appointment as the club's chairman in June, keeping his counsel in a way that seemed to befit a blue-chip City gent brought in to effect a sale. Yesterday, Broughton went out of his way to condemn the club's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and explain why he is going to court for the right to sell the club over their heads.

While explaining his confidence that the high court will allow him and his allies – the managing director, Christian Purslow, and commercial director, Ian Ayre – to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures, Broughton accused Hicks and Gillett of "flagrantly abusing" agreements they had made with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

As a departure from the Liverpool Way, in which, during the years of success, all disagreements were kept within the club, it could hardly have been more complete. Broughton revealed to supporters some of what has really been going on inside Liverpool over recent, tortuous months.

He said that he, Purslow and Ayre had been able to consider themselves semi-independent from Hicks and Gillett as they searched the world for a buyer, to deliver the club from the £200m the pair borrowed to buy it, then loaded on to it to repay. Crucially, Broughton said, before his appointment Hicks and Gillett agreed that only Broughton could appoint and remove directors – a clause that was written in to the club's articles of association. Secondly, he maintained, Hicks and Gillett had agreed with RBS that they would seek to sell the club and "take no action to frustrate any sale". It was those undertakings which Broughton said they had then "flagrantly abused".

Purslow, in an interview on Liverpool's official website a fortnight ago, said RBS had been instrumental in his own appointment: "I was very well known to the banks and I am sure when they were asked their view they were supportive."

Purslow, after months of searching, came up with the Rhône Group, which is based in Paris. It was to buy 40% of Liverpool for £110m, leaving Hicks and Gillett, together, with a 60% majority. The pair rejected that deal for the reason they are resisting NESV now – it did not give them enough "value" for their shares.

That, Purslow said, "precipitated a further series of changes" that were imposed by RBS. Hicks's son Tom Jr had resigned in January after the email exchange in which he had told a fan to "Blow me, fuckface". In 28 April, two more directors, Casey Coffman and Gillett's son, Foster, resigned. The articles of association were then changed, by agreement with Hicks and Gillett, on 27 May, to include Broughton's key power to appoint or remove directors. "The board was rejigged and, most importantly, the owners agreed they would seek a sale of all the club," Purslow said.

Broughton accepted the chairmanship on 8 June and yesterday he explained why he believed Hicks and Gillett agreed to his appointment: "To add credibility to the process because they no longer had any credibility."

The sale has seemed slow and undignified at times, prompting some to question whether Broughton was really doing very much. The boardroom battle erupted this week. Broughton said they had been talking to NESV for months, and another bidder from Asia; that Hicks and Gillett were kept informed; and that the board meeting on Tuesday was called to review the bids and decide which one to approve.

Broughton, Purslow and Ayre gathered for the meeting at the City of London offices of Liverpool's solicitors, Slaughter & May, beginning at 3:30pm. Just 15 minutes before that, they received a faxed notification from Hicks and Gillett that they were sacking Purslow and Ayre and replacing them with Hicks's son Mack and Mack's assistant, Lori Kay McCutcheon. When Hicks had said on buying Liverpool in February 2007 that his was a "multi-generational family commitment", nobody envisaged the appointment of another son in a last-minute cling to power.

The pair, on a conference call, also said they did not approve the sale. Broughton took legal advice. He returned to say that Hicks and Gillett did not have the right to change the board – the "flagrant abuses" of their agreements of which he later accused them – and reconvened the meeting. Hicks and Gillett are understood to have declined to take part and Broughton, Ayre and Purslow proceeded to approve the sale to NESV and to decide that they should seek a declaration from a high-court judge, probably to be heard next week, that they have the legal power to do so, according to the articles of association and Hicks's and Gillett's agreement with RBS.

Hicks said yesterday he would defend the action; that he "gave no such undertaking to Broughton", even though Broughton says the undertaking was given to RBS; that the board was properly reconstituted to give Hicks a majority; and that it opposes the sale.

And so Liverpool FC, not four years after these men arrived promising to honour its cherished traditions, heads to the high court to see if the man from British Airways, more steely than anybody imagined, can finally get them out.

 

[kingjulian]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

But although it is understood that NESV will pay for the acquisition with cash raised from its own shareholders, Broughton could not confirm whether it would also take on additional debt to do so.

Very interesting.

It will be awesome, if they pump in share capital to effect this take over. Just awesome. Because, it will most certainly indicate their intentions very clearly.

 

[spider-Neil]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

can someone please explain why if G&H have loaned liverpool the £140 mil why they are set to lose this money if liverpool are bought? wouldn't we still owe that money? thanks in adance.

 

[spider-Neil]

Re: LFC Sold to NESV (New England Sports Ventures)

okay, this eases my mind a little, even if by some miracle hicks wins the court case the club with fall into adminstration a day later and rbs will sell to NESV anyway 🙂