2 new bids for liverpool

Yay more yanks.

Yer man that owns the New England Patriots is one of them. Might even get to see Tom Brady around Anfield


EDIT: Its the owners of the Boston Red Sox. No Tom Brady for Anfield

Edited by Landon Donovan - 05 Oct 2010 at 3:34pm

Anyone got the link for the auction or is it buy now deal?

Liverpool board meet to discuss new bids for the Anfield club
The Liverpool board met on Tuesday to consider two new bids for the club, one of which is understood to have been from a successful American sports-franchise operator, Telegraph Sport can disclose.

By Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter
Published: 9:30PM BST 05 Oct 2010

Paul's Twitter


The UK-based board members led by chairman Martin Broughton are understood to be ready to pursue advanced negotiations with one or both parties but have met opposition from American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

An attempt to re-finance the club by Hicks and Gillett is also understood to have been discussed and was rejected by Broughton and the UK-based directors.

The impasse means that the future of Liverpool FC remains in the balance, with lawyers engaged by the non-owner directors said to be examining if they have the power to sell the club against the wishes of Hicks and Gillett, who own 100 per cent of the equity.

The provenance of the second bid is unknown, but both bidders are understood to be offering about £300 million.

That is enough to cover approximately £280 million in loan and fees owed to Royal Bank of Scotland and provide a small amount to help refresh the playing squad.

Neither bid is willing to pay the Americans a consideration for their equity in the club, and with Hicks and Gillett maintaining that their investment demands a return they are said to have stepped into reject a sale.

Relations between the owner directors Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre, and the American owners are understood to have almost completely broken down.

Sources have indicated that Broughton and his UK-based colleagues are content that both potential owners would mark a considerable improvement on Hicks and Gillett, and would satisfy the demand that new owners would be better guardians of the club’s image and future.

Crucially both bidders are understood to be acceptable to RBS, whose loans to the club become due on Oct 15.

The Premier League is also understood to have been informed of the identity of the two new bidders, though neither has yet formally begun clearing the regulatory hurdles set out by the league.

The new bids come with Liverpool rooted in the bottom three after a dismal start to the season which has largely been blamed on the instability off the pitch.

The impending deadline of the RBS loan deadline has led to a series of increasingly fraught negotiations.

In August several potential bidders made their interest public, including Chinese sports marketing agent Kenneth Huang and Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi.

Neither was able to demonstrate that they had the funds to proceed and both eventually withdrew from the process amid scepticism about their means.

Last month Hicks attempted to refinance the RBS debt with Blackstone, but was told by Broughton and his UK-based colleagues that a leveraged alternative to RBS was not acceptable.

In June the non-owner directors also rejected an attempt to refinance the debt by Hicks and Gillett.

The future of the club may ultimately rest on the attitude of RBS, which is considering whether to refinance the Americans or force them out.

The bank is reluctant to take control of the club given the public-relations risks involved, but it is applying pressure to try and force the Americans to accept a sale.

RBS was responsible for installing Broughton in an attempt to expedite a swift sale, but the process looks likely to end in litigation.

Hicks and Gillett say they have added value to the club and that it is worth in excess of £400 million. With no bidder willing to meet their demands, though, the impasse continues to undermine Liverpool

It is understood that Liverpool's board and chairman Martin Broughton were in favour of recommending both of the new bids for consideration after meeting on Tuesday, but that plan was met with disagreement from the owners.

Sounds like Hicks and Gilette have a majority vote in all of this. I thought that they couldn't not accept certain bids? Legally? I can't get my head around a lot of this businessy stuff But they are desperately trying to hold out... The absolute ****s.

It seems the board are trying to sell the club out from under the owners in a manner which will bring no benefit to the owners(which is good). It will however benefit the REAL owners of the club, RBS, as they will at last get their money back and get a contentious asset off their books.

If Martin Broughton was brought in as a condition of the last refinance, it was a stroke of genius by RBS, as it effectively neutered H+G as a force at LFC. THey had to be sure they already had Purslow and Ayres on board.

makes you wonder if purslow etc have been instructed by RBS to ignore G+H and proceed with any interest
id say they have

totti wrote: Liverpool Football Club tonight issued the following press statement: 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. So that's removing all 3 who were for the sale, and replacing them with his son, and Lori McCutcheon

What a load of bollox, Serious mess.

Maybe i'm not reading the whole situation correctly but why the hell would anyone want to buy the club now when the yanks will lose control come 15th Oct(cant see anyone giving them the funds to clear the debt) & thus the RBS will then in all probabilty accept a lesser fee than the £280mil they are owed & the yanks get next to nothing for there efforts. But like i said i aint no business genius & am probably wrong