ESPNsoccernet can reveal that
Liverpool are on the brink of being
sold after two new credible buyers,
tabled offers for the stricken
Premier League giants, though that
news is tempered by the fact that
current owners George Gillett and
Tom Hicks are refusing to walk
away from the club with nothing.
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The Liverpool board met on
Tuesday to discuss which bid to
accept - one of them from New
England Sports Ventures, owners of
US baseball team the Boston Red
Sox - but while three board
members favoured a sale, the
proposals are still being blocked by
Hicks and Gillett. .
The American duo attempted to
oust managing director Christian
Purslow and commercial director
Ian Ayre before the meeting took
place, an apparent sign of just how
fervently they oppose the offers
on the table.
A statement on Liverpool's official
website read: "The board of
directors have received two
excellent financial offers to buy the
club that would repay all its long-
term debt. A board meeting was
called today to review these bids
and approve a sale.
"Shortly prior to the meeting, the
owners - Tom Hicks and George
Gillett - sought to remove
managing director Christian Purslow
and commercial director Ian Ayre
from the board, seeking to replace
them with Mack Hicks and Lori Kay
McCutcheon. This matter is now
subject to legal review and a
further announcement will be
made in due course.
"Meanwhile Martin Broughton,
Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre
continue to explore every possible
route to achieving a sale of the
Club at the earliest opportunity."
Months of abortive bids from across
the globe - including offers from
India, Canada and the Middle East,
as well as speculation that the
Chinese Government were even
tabling a bid - all fell by the
wayside as the buyers were unable
to offer up proof of funds.
And it had looked as though the
deadline set by the Royal Bank of
Scotland (RBS) on October 15 - to
call in their £237 million loans to
Hicks and Gillett - could have seen
the bank take control of the club or
consider placing the company into
administration, likely invoking a
subsequent nine-point Premier
League deduction.
With Liverpool having slipped into
the relegation zone, lost to
Northampton Town in the Carling
Cup, and with manager Roy
Hodgson under intense pressure
after the poor results on the pitch,
worries about no takeover being in
sight had led to despair setting in at
Anfield.
But potential new owners have
finally emerged from the United
States and Asia, with the bidders
possessing the necessary credibility
to convince chairman Martin
Broughton to sell and save one of
football's biggest institutions right in
the nick of time.
Yet the fight is far from over, as
ESPNsoccernet can also disclose that
the outgoing American owners are
desperately trying to block the bids
because both Hicks and Gillett will
be frozen out of receiving any
money for their shares.
Chairman Martin Broughton,
brought in to find a buyer by RBS,
has insisted that prospective new
owners of Liverpool would need
the funds to bring in new players,
and also to eventually build a new
£400 million stadium.
Hicks and Gillett initially valued the
club at £800 million, when they first
revealed their intention to search
for a buyer earlier this year, but it
quickly became clear that such a
sum was way beyond any true
value.
The American duo claim that they
are owed at least £150 million but
will be shocked that the offers that
Broughton, chief executive Christian
Purslow and commercial director
Ian Ayre are ready to accept do
not include any money to pay off
Hicks and Gillett.
It is a scenario that will delight
Liverpool fans, who will want funds
channelled into the club for players
and the new stadium, and not back
into the pockets of the detested
Hicks and Gillett, who have been
the target of widespread
demonstrations at recent home
matches at Anfield. However, on
the evidence of recent
machinations from the pair,
including an attempted refinancing
of the debt with American
investment company Blackstone
by Hicks, it seems highly unlikely
that will go down without a fight
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