Liverpool 'in investment talks with US group'
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Cheese?
[quote author=TheBunnyman link=topic=39299.msg1069464#msg1069464 date=1268648102]
Cheese?
[/quote]
ha ha 😀
Cheese?
[/quote]
ha ha 😀
[quote author=vantage link=topic=39299.msg1069470#msg1069470 date=1268648539]
Yeah, read this elsewhere. These people are well known to Hicks and helped him dismantle Corinthians. I personally think it is an effort to smoke out other interested parties. They are LBO mercahnts as well.
[/quote]
So, in essence, very worrying ?
Yeah, read this elsewhere. These people are well known to Hicks and helped him dismantle Corinthians. I personally think it is an effort to smoke out other interested parties. They are LBO mercahnts as well.
[/quote]
So, in essence, very worrying ?
[quote author=vantage link=topic=39299.msg1069470#msg1069470 date=1268648539]
Yeah, read this elsewhere. These people are well known to Hicks and helped him dismantle Corinthians. I personally think it is an effort to smoke out other interested parties. They are LBO mercahnts as well.
[/quote]
Well, that's marvellous news, really.
Is it too much to ask that we get some clueless, foreign oil-rich billionaire(s) who just wants to plough money into the club?
Yeah, read this elsewhere. These people are well known to Hicks and helped him dismantle Corinthians. I personally think it is an effort to smoke out other interested parties. They are LBO mercahnts as well.
[/quote]
Well, that's marvellous news, really.
Is it too much to ask that we get some clueless, foreign oil-rich billionaire(s) who just wants to plough money into the club?
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=39299.msg1069501#msg1069501 date=1268650941]
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
Six groups queue to buy into Liverpool
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
[quote author=TheBunnyman link=topic=39299.msg1069586#msg1069586 date=1268658811]
[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=39299.msg1069501#msg1069501 date=1268650941]
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
[/quote]
Precisely. It's depressing how quickly prejudice can unmask itself sometimes.
[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=39299.msg1069501#msg1069501 date=1268650941]
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
[/quote]
Precisely. It's depressing how quickly prejudice can unmask itself sometimes.
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=39299.msg1069594#msg1069594 date=1268659319]
Six groups queue to buy into Liverpool
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
[/quote]
Ha. It's definitely just a scam by Tom's mates, isn't it?
Six groups queue to buy into Liverpool
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
[/quote]
Ha. It's definitely just a scam by Tom's mates, isn't it?
[quote author=TheBunnyman link=topic=39299.msg1069586#msg1069586 date=1268658811]
[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=39299.msg1069501#msg1069501 date=1268650941]
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
[/quote]
Of course not... it is just us that have been extremelly unlucky!
[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=39299.msg1069501#msg1069501 date=1268650941]
I said before the two idiots took over that I dont want american control over this club. I repeat the message now. NO AMERICANS TO RUN THIS CLUB!!!!!
[/quote]
Yeah right, because this is entirely a question of nationality isn't it?
[/quote]
Of course not... it is just us that have been extremelly unlucky!
They have absolutely nothing listed on their website: http://www.rhonegroup.com/
No Phone numbers, No email address. No information about the assets etc. For a company that holds more than a billion in assets, they seem to be very very shy.
No Phone numbers, No email address. No information about the assets etc. For a company that holds more than a billion in assets, they seem to be very very shy.
from John Thompson on the Echo answering the fans questions
he may have made more posts since these.
Hi guys,
John Thompson, Echo Sports Editor here.
Lots of very good questions and I won't pretend that at this very early stage I or we at the Echo know the answers to all of them. But we're trying very hard to find out and will take all these observations, points and issues on board going forward.
But our understanding is that the Rhone Group offer - if it is eventually accepted - would dramatically change the ownership structure at Liverpool Football Club.
Rhone are seeking a 40 per cent share in the club, via a promise to pay £110m for what would be newly issued shares in the club.
Although on the face of it that would still leave Tom Hicks and George Gillett collectively in the ascendancy, it is might not necessarily going to turn out that way.
Indeed, although Rhone would only hold what is technically still a minority stake, it is very possible that they could end up having much more influence in the decision making processes at Anfield than the maths suggest here.
I'm afraid I can't tell you how that would work -even though it's an obvious and critical question. But it is the Echo's understanding that they may ultimately end up in control.
-------- his second post ------------------
I guess you're wondering - like all Liverpool fans given what the club has gone through these last three years - whether it would be simply be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire with Rhone involved.
People will also wonder why anyone would put £100m worth of cash into a football club with no immediate prospect of a quick return. In other words, What's the catch here?
Well we've been trying to find out if there is one - and at this early stage it is being stressed by experts in the field that Rhone is a conservative, managed investment fund, one which is in essence putting a big amount of its clients' money into Liverpool FC to now help it get back on a much more stable financial footing. Their ambitions seem to lie over the long - even very long - term.
The Echo's understanding is that neither Robert Agonstinelli nor Steven Langman - who are professional fund managers rather than rich individual personal benefactors - have any ambitions to sit on a new Liverpool board.
Managing Director Christian Purslow, Commercial Director Ian Ayre and Financial chief Philip Nash would remain among the senor execs in day to day control of afairs at Anfield
Rhone apparently remain convinced that, despite all the troubles, LFC is still a club with enormous potential and - properly run and managed - a bright future ahead ultimately.
That's what Liverpool fans feel too I'm sure.
How can a world famous club with as many fans devoted around the planet as Liverpool have - and a club remember which has just attracted an £80m shirt sponsorship deal - not still be an attractive investment propostion, in essence?
---- third post -----------
No one is saying anything at all about this proposal. Not Liverpool FC, Not Rhone or their representatives. And not Tom Hicks or George Gillett. It's common for these business proposals to be shrouded in confidentiality at this stage, so I guess it's not that surprising there's been no comment despite a battery of questions coming at people from the media.
But, micky89, this is a significant development. I know fans often find it difficult to know who's for real and who's not - so many people have been 'linked' with buying into Liverpool before that it's hard for supporters to be sure.
And you are right to suggest the views of Tom Hicks and George Gillett are very important as to whether this firm investment proposal goes any further or not.
Hicks and Gillett are the owners still. But the Royal Bank of Scotland, who they have borrowed money from and which is due to be repaid in July, also have a significant interest in making sure their money is safe and that the club gets out of the desperate malaise it has found itself in.
That's the strategy here, to get a world famous and hugely successful football club back on the road to recovery. It's a long and tricky road, but this could yet turn out to be a very important step in that journey if Rhone's intentions are as hoped.
he may have made more posts since these.
Hi guys,
John Thompson, Echo Sports Editor here.
Lots of very good questions and I won't pretend that at this very early stage I or we at the Echo know the answers to all of them. But we're trying very hard to find out and will take all these observations, points and issues on board going forward.
But our understanding is that the Rhone Group offer - if it is eventually accepted - would dramatically change the ownership structure at Liverpool Football Club.
Rhone are seeking a 40 per cent share in the club, via a promise to pay £110m for what would be newly issued shares in the club.
Although on the face of it that would still leave Tom Hicks and George Gillett collectively in the ascendancy, it is might not necessarily going to turn out that way.
Indeed, although Rhone would only hold what is technically still a minority stake, it is very possible that they could end up having much more influence in the decision making processes at Anfield than the maths suggest here.
I'm afraid I can't tell you how that would work -even though it's an obvious and critical question. But it is the Echo's understanding that they may ultimately end up in control.
-------- his second post ------------------
I guess you're wondering - like all Liverpool fans given what the club has gone through these last three years - whether it would be simply be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire with Rhone involved.
People will also wonder why anyone would put £100m worth of cash into a football club with no immediate prospect of a quick return. In other words, What's the catch here?
Well we've been trying to find out if there is one - and at this early stage it is being stressed by experts in the field that Rhone is a conservative, managed investment fund, one which is in essence putting a big amount of its clients' money into Liverpool FC to now help it get back on a much more stable financial footing. Their ambitions seem to lie over the long - even very long - term.
The Echo's understanding is that neither Robert Agonstinelli nor Steven Langman - who are professional fund managers rather than rich individual personal benefactors - have any ambitions to sit on a new Liverpool board.
Managing Director Christian Purslow, Commercial Director Ian Ayre and Financial chief Philip Nash would remain among the senor execs in day to day control of afairs at Anfield
Rhone apparently remain convinced that, despite all the troubles, LFC is still a club with enormous potential and - properly run and managed - a bright future ahead ultimately.
That's what Liverpool fans feel too I'm sure.
How can a world famous club with as many fans devoted around the planet as Liverpool have - and a club remember which has just attracted an £80m shirt sponsorship deal - not still be an attractive investment propostion, in essence?
---- third post -----------
No one is saying anything at all about this proposal. Not Liverpool FC, Not Rhone or their representatives. And not Tom Hicks or George Gillett. It's common for these business proposals to be shrouded in confidentiality at this stage, so I guess it's not that surprising there's been no comment despite a battery of questions coming at people from the media.
But, micky89, this is a significant development. I know fans often find it difficult to know who's for real and who's not - so many people have been 'linked' with buying into Liverpool before that it's hard for supporters to be sure.
And you are right to suggest the views of Tom Hicks and George Gillett are very important as to whether this firm investment proposal goes any further or not.
Hicks and Gillett are the owners still. But the Royal Bank of Scotland, who they have borrowed money from and which is due to be repaid in July, also have a significant interest in making sure their money is safe and that the club gets out of the desperate malaise it has found itself in.
That's the strategy here, to get a world famous and hugely successful football club back on the road to recovery. It's a long and tricky road, but this could yet turn out to be a very important step in that journey if Rhone's intentions are as hoped.
It certainly should, provided it's true. If they were connected with him, this would be much more likely to be some sort of stitch-up to save his financial bacon. As it is, if these guys are totally independent and genuinely focused on making a good investment rather than on rescuing Hicks himself, this could (as John Thompson indicates) be good news indeed if it comes off.
Fingers and everything else crossed.
Fingers and everything else crossed.
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=39299.msg1069614#msg1069614 date=1268661140]
I read somewhere that Rhone is in no way connected to Hicks. If that makes people feel any better.
[/quote]
If anyone is still unsure, I can vouch for 'somewhere'. He's been right on some important issues before and I've no reason to believe this is any different.
I read somewhere that Rhone is in no way connected to Hicks. If that makes people feel any better.
[/quote]
If anyone is still unsure, I can vouch for 'somewhere'. He's been right on some important issues before and I've no reason to believe this is any different.
S
Squiggles
Guest
That's a relief.
For the most part, being 'linked to investing in our club has become cunning marketing strategy.
For the most part, being 'linked to investing in our club has become cunning marketing strategy.
From the Echo;
Some supporters will be understandably sceptical about the Rhone Group’s motives. It was claimed yesterday Roberto Agostinelli – who founded the company with Steven Langman in 1997 – numbers George Bush among his friends.
Given Hicks’ links to Bush it could, a first glance, appear to be a “carve up†between friends.
But the perception that Agostinelli moves in the same circles as Hicks – and is a billionaire – are both wrong. He spends the majority of his time in Europe.
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
The Rhone Group are described as being “conservative investors†and they do not load prospective projects up with debt. Nor, for that matter, do they make short-term investments. The intention is to help get the club back on a stable footing.
Some supporters will be understandably sceptical about the Rhone Group’s motives. It was claimed yesterday Roberto Agostinelli – who founded the company with Steven Langman in 1997 – numbers George Bush among his friends.
Given Hicks’ links to Bush it could, a first glance, appear to be a “carve up†between friends.
But the perception that Agostinelli moves in the same circles as Hicks – and is a billionaire – are both wrong. He spends the majority of his time in Europe.
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
The Rhone Group are described as being “conservative investors†and they do not load prospective projects up with debt. Nor, for that matter, do they make short-term investments. The intention is to help get the club back on a stable footing.
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=39299.msg1069630#msg1069630 date=1268662354]
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
[/quote]
Sounds sordid.
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
[/quote]
Sounds sordid.
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=39299.msg1069630#msg1069630 date=1268662354]
From the Echo;
Some supporters will be understandably sceptical about the Rhone Group’s motives. It was claimed yesterday Roberto Agostinelli – who founded the company with Steven Langman in 1997 – numbers George Bush among his friends.
Given Hicks’ links to Bush it could, a first glance, appear to be a “carve up†between friends.
But the perception that Agostinelli moves in the same circles as Hicks – and is a billionaire – are both wrong. He spends the majority of his time in Europe.
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
The Rhone Group are described as being “conservative investors†and they do not load prospective projects up with debt. Nor, for that matter, do they make short-term investments. The intention is to help get the club back on a stable footing.
[/quote]
French prime minister?
From the Echo;
Some supporters will be understandably sceptical about the Rhone Group’s motives. It was claimed yesterday Roberto Agostinelli – who founded the company with Steven Langman in 1997 – numbers George Bush among his friends.
Given Hicks’ links to Bush it could, a first glance, appear to be a “carve up†between friends.
But the perception that Agostinelli moves in the same circles as Hicks – and is a billionaire – are both wrong. He spends the majority of his time in Europe.
Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.
The Rhone Group are described as being “conservative investors†and they do not load prospective projects up with debt. Nor, for that matter, do they make short-term investments. The intention is to help get the club back on a stable footing.
[/quote]
French prime minister?
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=39299.msg1069594#msg1069594 date=1268659319]
Six groups queue to buy into Liverpool
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
[/quote]
So, an "Anfield Source" gave 3 or 4 paragraphs worth of quotes to The Lying Rag, but no one else then on this Rhone subject?
Right.
Six groups queue to buy into Liverpool
The S** says an Anfield source confirmed yesterday the club have been swamped with calls from potential investors despite the team struggling for form.
The Rhone Group, an international equity firm worth around £3billion, have made public their willingness to pay £100m to become the club's biggest shareholders.
A highly-placed club insider confirmed the group, who have offices in London, Paris and New York, have started the ball rolling by studying the club's accounts.
They are demanding a minimum 34 per cent stake in Liverpool in exchange for handing Royal Bank of Scotland £100m to pay off a chunk of their estimated £240m debt.
It would leave current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks with 33 per cent each.
The source said: "The Rhone Group is not some pie-in-the-sky consortium but a well-established financial organisation headed by millionaires from Britain, France, Sweden, America and several other countries. But they are only the first group to come forward.
"We have been talking to at least five other would-be investors and it could be this development will encourage them to break cover too.
"So we will take our time to weigh up all the options. This is not a takeover but an investment opportunity.
"Whichever group eventually buys into Liverpool, the money will not go to the owners but to the club to reduce the existing debt."
[/quote]
So, an "Anfield Source" gave 3 or 4 paragraphs worth of quotes to The Lying Rag, but no one else then on this Rhone subject?
Right.
We've got tons of people interested, honestly, the phone has been ringing off the hook. I know it might not seem that way, and every other bit of interest has been a cheap attempt to provoke a better offer, but this time it's real. Don't be fooled by competitors. Quantities are limited, get yer Liverpool FC ownership right here, right now, for a new low low price. And you aren't going to pay 499, you aren't going to pay 299, you aren't even going to pay 199...
Now... for three easy payments of....
Now... for three easy payments of....
[quote author=Farkmaster link=topic=39299.msg1070405#msg1070405 date=1268724604]
We've got tons of people interested, honestly, the phone has been ringing off the hook. I know it might not seem that way, and every other bit of interest has been a cheap attempt to provoke a better offer, but this time it's real. Don't be fooled by competitors. Quantities are limited, get yer Liverpool FC ownership right here, right now, for a new low low price. And you aren't going to pay 499, you aren't going to pay 299, you aren't even going to pay 199...
Now... for three easy payments of....
[/quote]
Ha.
We've got tons of people interested, honestly, the phone has been ringing off the hook. I know it might not seem that way, and every other bit of interest has been a cheap attempt to provoke a better offer, but this time it's real. Don't be fooled by competitors. Quantities are limited, get yer Liverpool FC ownership right here, right now, for a new low low price. And you aren't going to pay 499, you aren't going to pay 299, you aren't even going to pay 199...
Now... for three easy payments of....
[/quote]
Ha.
Buyout Tycoon Lined Up For Liverpool Bid
Mark Kleinman
Sky News
March 19, 2010 3:59 PM
I have learned that John Muse, the American private equity tycoon, is to play a leading role in an offer to buy a 40 per cent stake in Liverpool Football Club.
Muse has been lined up to co-invest alongside Rhone Capital, a US investment firm which last week tabled the first formal proposal to inject new funds into the Premier League club.
What I'm not clear about is how much money Muse, who is now chairman of HM Capital Partners, another private equity group, would invest under the Rhone proposal, which would see it paying about £110m in exchange for a 40 per cent stake.
The news is nonetheless significant because Muse was one of the founders of Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, the buyout firm where Tom Hicks, one of Liverpool's current co-owners, also made his name and fortune.
Hicks and Muse are said by people who know them to have had an at times uneasy relationship, although it seems logical to assume that they are on decent terms now.
After all, Hicks and George Gillett, the current shareholders, will continue to collectively own a majority of the equity in the club even if the terms of Rhone's bid would hand it effective control.
Christian Purslow, the highly-regarded managing director of Liverpool, has set an Easter deadline for serious offers. There has been plenty of speculative interest from around the world but I'd be surprised if there were more than three concrete proposals for Purslow to consider at that stage.
Liverpool had some decent news last night when they progressed to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, suggesting they may yet salvage some silverware from a dismal season. Whether the news off the pitch during the next two months remains unclear.
Rhone and Muse both declined to comment today.
Mark Kleinman
Sky News
March 19, 2010 3:59 PM
I have learned that John Muse, the American private equity tycoon, is to play a leading role in an offer to buy a 40 per cent stake in Liverpool Football Club.
Muse has been lined up to co-invest alongside Rhone Capital, a US investment firm which last week tabled the first formal proposal to inject new funds into the Premier League club.
What I'm not clear about is how much money Muse, who is now chairman of HM Capital Partners, another private equity group, would invest under the Rhone proposal, which would see it paying about £110m in exchange for a 40 per cent stake.
The news is nonetheless significant because Muse was one of the founders of Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, the buyout firm where Tom Hicks, one of Liverpool's current co-owners, also made his name and fortune.
Hicks and Muse are said by people who know them to have had an at times uneasy relationship, although it seems logical to assume that they are on decent terms now.
After all, Hicks and George Gillett, the current shareholders, will continue to collectively own a majority of the equity in the club even if the terms of Rhone's bid would hand it effective control.
Christian Purslow, the highly-regarded managing director of Liverpool, has set an Easter deadline for serious offers. There has been plenty of speculative interest from around the world but I'd be surprised if there were more than three concrete proposals for Purslow to consider at that stage.
Liverpool had some decent news last night when they progressed to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, suggesting they may yet salvage some silverware from a dismal season. Whether the news off the pitch during the next two months remains unclear.
Rhone and Muse both declined to comment today.
Oh great. THREE mutually hating owners instead of two! This is progress.
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