Yanks A Lot As Liverpool Put Up For Sale

Sportspeak has learned that Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have confirmed their intention to sell the debt-ridden Premier League club by appointing a new chairman. British Airways boss Martin Broughton has been handed the task of overseeing the sale of the Anfield outfit.Americans Hicks and Gillett say there has been “numerous expressions of interest” and have asked Barclays Capital to advise them on the sale.With debts of £237m, the club had been seeking £100m of outside investment.Chief executive Christian Purslow, along with two different banks – Merrill Lynch and Rothschilds – had been assigned with conducting this search to satisfy a request from the club’s principal creditor, RBS, to reduce the loan.
But with this still unresolved, issues over funding for a new stadium in Stanley Park and providing a substantial transfer budget for manager Rafael Benitez becoming increasingly significant the Americans have decided their best option is to sell up – a move they say has the “full support of its existing bankers”.In a statement, they said: “Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families.Having grown the club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the club to owners committed to take the club through its next level of growth and development.I will run this sale process in the right way, for the benefit of the club and its fansWe are delighted that Martin Broughton has agreed to take the position of chairman, working alongside the club’s excellent senior management team.Martin is a distinguished business leader of excellent judgment and with a great reputation. He is a genuine football supporter and will seek to oversee the sales process in the best interests of the club and its supporters.”
Broughton added: “I am excited and honoured to be taking up this position. Liverpool is a great club with a fantastic history.”I will run this sale process in the right way, for the benefit of the club and its fans.Liverpool is one of the world’s greatest clubs and my aim is to try and ensure that we find new owners who are able to build on the club’s recent improved financial performance in order to help deliver sporting success.”Liverpool are in serious danger of missing out qualifying for next season’s Champions League, which would have a serious impact on the finances at the club.They are sixth in the Premier League and trail Manchester City – who occupy the last of the four Champions League places – by six points with four games to play
Hicks and Gillett have endured a difficult time at Liverpool since taking over at Anfield in March 2007.
Supporters have regularly voiced their dissatisfaction at the level of debt taken on by the club after the buy-out by the American duo.Last October, several hundred Liverpool fans staged a protest march organised by the Spirit of Shankly group against the owners ahead of their Premier League clash against Manchester United.The board’s popularity with the fans disintegrated further when Hicks’ son, Tom Hicks Jr, became embroiled in a row with a supporter who alleged the American had sent him abusive emails.As a result Hicks Jr resigned as a director of the club and parent company Kop Holdings, leading to a restructure of the board.
Gillett and Hicks have also endured a fractious relationship with each other, which early on in their reign threaten to undermine their ownership with the former revealing the partnership had become “unworkable”.In 2008, Hicks blocked Gillett’s moves to sell his 50 percent share to Dubai International Capital group as the pair feuded over future plans for the club and an outright £500m takeover bid by the DIC group was also rebuffed, with Hicks hinting he would attempt an outright takeover bid himself.They subsequently patched up their differences but the sense of unrest at the club continued, not least in the often difficult working relationship the board shared with manager Benitez.

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