15 Oct 2010

Liverpool FC sold to NESV for £300m

The owners of Boston Red Sox – New England Sports Ventures (NESV) – have finally bought Liverpool Football Club following a legal battle with current American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The deal will enable Liverpool Football Club to pay back its debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and avoid a nine point penalty in the Premier League.

It may also offer manager Roy Hodgson the chance to spend in the transfer market when the window opens in January, to strengthen the team, which has endured a dismal start to the season, sitting in the relegation zone in 18th place with only six points from seven games.

The new owner spoke to journalists in Central London and said he is “proud and humbled” to be the new owner of Liverpool FC.

John W Henry said: “I am proud and humbled. We have a lot of work to do and I can’t tell you how happy I am that we finally got to this point.

“I have no idea what the deal is worth, it depends what day it is.

I am proud and humbled. We have a lot of work to do and I can’t tell you how happy I am that we finally got to this point. John W Henry

“I think our actions… it’s too early to say what we’re going to do, but we’re here to win. We will do whatever is necessary.”

Asked what he thought about the threat by Hicks and Gillett to pursue in excess of $1bn Mr Henry joked: “Why is it only that much?”

On the potential of a new stadium to replace Anfield, Mr Henry said: “It is too early to say what is going to happen with the stadium.”

He said he will not attend the derby game at Goodison Park on Sunday, “I think it’s better for our first experience with the supporters is to be at home.”

Martin Broughton, accompanying Henry, told the press he will stay on as Chairman of the Club for the moment. He said: “We’ve always known we were doing the right thing… for the time being I will be staying on in a transitional role until John works out how he wants to run the club.”

‘Cloud lifted’
Roy Hodgson said in his Friday news conference ahead of Sunday’s crunch Merseyside derby with Everton at Goodison Park that “no doubt a cloud has been lifted. If the takeover is complete, players can get on with playing football without fear.

“It is a very positive situation, if that is the case, and a very good day for the club – a day everyone at the club will welcome and the new owners will welcome.

“No doubt a cloud has been lifted. If the takeover is complete, players can get on with playing football without fear.” Roy Hodgson

“It is a relief. It has been a very difficult couple of weeks.

“For this long drawn-out court battle to take place and Liverpool’s name to be on the television screens and in the newspapers every day for anything other than positive reasons has been a bad time.

“We’ve had to live through that bad time but hopefully now, if NESV are going to take over, that would be very good news for us going into the important match at the weekend.”

Legal wrangles
On Wednesday, the sale of the club to the owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team NESV, owned by John W Henry, looked a done deal. Then co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett persuaded a court in Texas to issue an order blocking the sale. Yesterday the High Court in London demolished Hicks and Gillett’s Texas move – the judge called it “unconscionable” and threw it out.

But this afternoon Hicks and Gillett released a joint statement saying they were going to pursue £1.6bn in damages over the sale to NESV which they claim is “illegal”. The statement was released after the Premier League rejected an attempt by the Mill Financial hedge fund to submit to the league’s owners’ and directors’ test.

Last ditch attempt
In a last ditch attempt to prevent the sale of Liverpool to NESV, Hicks proposed to sell his shares in the Club to the US hedge fund, which already owns Gillett’s 50 per cent stake in Liverpool FC.

But the Premier League told the hedge fund they could only take instruction from the board of Liverpool who have already agreed to sell to NESV for £300million.

If Hicks had been able to sell to Mill Financial, then the hedge fund could and would have paid off the club’s bank debt – £237m owed to the RBS- at a stroke scuppering the Red Sox sale and removing the threat of the Club going into administration and being docked nine points.

It would have left Mill Financial in control of Liverpool FC and that could have meant the option of a sale to new owners, not to NESV. But NESV said if the hedge fund was given the go ahead to takeover the club by the Premier League, it would appeal to the High Court again.

An NESV source said: “If that were to happen we would take this back to the High Court as soon as possible. Mill Financial would just be pawns of Tom Hicks and we believe this is all about Tom Hicks maintaining his control over Liverpool.”

Hicks had lifted a temporary restraining order by a Texas court preventing the sale of the Club in order to try and sell his stake to the hedge fund. But JW Henry claimed on his Twitter account – @John_W_Henry – this morning that NESV had the law on its side: “We have a binding contract. Will fight Mill Hicks Gillett attempt to keep club today. Their last desperate attempt to entrench their regime.”

Who knows who: Liverpool will you ever walk again?

An ‘extraordinary swindle’
Five-times European champions Liverpool, who are one of England’s greatest clubs and possess a brand of global stature, still face a protracted legal battle in a saga that has overshadowed their troubled start to the season.

In a statement by the Texas attorney representing Hicks and Gillett, Steve Stodghill confirmed the two businessmen had failed to get the deal through the Premier League and the sale to NESV was back on the cards. He warned Hicks and Gillett will fight “with all of their legal energies” to pursue $1.6bn in damages from the “epic swindle”.

He said: “It’s an extraordinary swindle and it will result in exactly the wrong thing for the Club and the fans.

“This outcome not only devalues the Club but it also will result in long-term uncertainty for the fans, players and everyone who loves this sport because all legal recourses will be pursued.

“This outcome not only devalues the club, but it will also result in long-term uncertainty for the fans, players and everyone who loves this sport.” Hicks and Gillett

“Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett pledged to pay the debt to RBS so that the Club could avoid administration that was threatened by RBS. That offer was rejected. It is a tragic development that others will claim as a victory. This means it won’t be resolved the way it should be resolved. My clients worked tirelessly to resolve these issues but RBS would not listen to any reasonable solution and the Directors acted selfishly and illegally.”

Stodghill said the owners have no choice but to pursue every legal avenue possible, and they will.

He added: “Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett wanted to position this club for the future, but others have a different agenda. In truth, there is nothing positive from these events for Liverpool Football. That is exactly the opposite of what my clients wanted to achieve.”