Boardroom unrest - all media articles in here...

[BROCK]

I can't see us being forced to sell players, instead we'll just use this years T.V money to cover any debts that's due. Not much of a comfort in term of progress like but there's a hell of a lot of squad players we can clear out and use the kids if necessary, these funds could then go on buying one/ two world-class player(s). I doubt Rafa would have been given much more money anyway.

[RedinSweden]

Originally Posted by lifetime fan

My guess, and it's a guess is that Hicks wouldn't have to use any veto until there is a formal offer for Gillet's shares.

Kay believes DIC made a formal offer on February 27, Gillet would have to inform Hicks of his intention to sell. So now Hicks would use his veto to block the sell and give him 90 days to at least match the offer on the table. At the end of the 90 days if he can not at least match DIC's offer Gillet can proceed to sell to whoever he wishes.

Like I said its only a guess but I'm hoping this is the case.

That doesn't explain him saying "George doesn't have to sell" though. I am still confused.

[BROCK]

TB said in the Echo (in the Moores interview i think) that the exclusivity deal is only in force until May.

[bri]

Isnt this what leeds did, buying players on HP so to speak

[RedinSweden]

This is the future of LFC under Hicks

[05 Milan]

What annoys me about that article is that he makes no attempt to assess how likely it is that the club won't be able to service the loans.

He could've just looked into last years numbers and mentioned last years interest cost compared to last season turnover etc, just to give the reader a hint of perspective on these numbers. Left isolated it's just designed to cause panic, and makes it look like a DIC hit-job.

[Malarkey]

US banks Citigroup and Merrill Lynch reveal fresh $15bn loss

Iain Dey

CITIGROUP and Merrill Lynch will heap further pain on Wall Street this week as they reveal additional sub-prime write-downs totalling $15 billion (£7.6 billion) or more.

In another sign of the intense pressure on leading banks, Deutsche Bank is attempting to offload some of its €35 billion (£28 billion) of toxic debt to a consortium of private-equity firms.

Huge exposure to American mortgages is expected to result in Citi taking a $10 billion hit to its accounts, dragging the bank to a first-quarter loss of almost $3 billion. Some analysts believe Citi’s write-downs could stretch to as much as $12 billion.

Merrill will suffer $5 billion of write-downs, analysts say, which would push the bank $2.7 billion into the red.

The new rash of Wall Street losses and write-downs come in addition to the billions that have already been recorded.

The world’s biggest banks have suffered losses and write-downs totalling almost $250 billion since the beginning of 2007, according to analysts. Last week the IMF shocked markets by saying that global losses from the credit crisis could rise to $945 billion.

JP Morgan is expected to offer the only glimmer of hope from this week’s results, posting a small profit, in spite of huge exposures to leveraged loans.

Some of the world’s biggest banks are beginning to work on new solutions to relieve tension in the financial markets.

Deutsche Bank is understood to be talking to a number of private-equity funds about a disposal of some of its backlog of loans to venture-capital firms.

The value of leveraged loans sitting on Deutsche’s balance sheet is greater than its shareholder equity. The bank is planning to sell on the loans to the private-equity funds at a loss to free up its balance sheet, according to market sources.

The plan mirrors a similar move by Citi to sell $12 billion of its leveraged-loan portfolio to private-equity firms including Blackstone, Apollo and Texas Pacific Group.

The Citi deal is hoping to close the deal in time for this week’s results. It is one of a number of significant moves by Vikram Pandit, Citi’s new chief executive.

But the sale could be hampered by problems with the planned inclusion of loans related to EMI, the music business. Citi bankrolled its buyout last year by Terra Firma Capital Partners, and still holds about $5 billion of EMI debt.

It was reported yesterday that Citi had been forced to remove some of these loans from the sale after buyers complained they did not have sufficient financial information on EMI.

Citi announced plans to sell its Diners Club credit-cards business to Discover last week, and is also considering a sale of its German retail-banking operations.

City insiders believe job losses are inevitable. Pandit is thought to be considering a radical reshaping of the bank’s equity research organisation. Insiders say that it may be slimmed down to focus on its top 300 clients, rather than providing a wider service to investors.

Some banks are looking to use the crisis to steal a march on their competitors. HSBC last week revealed its intention to use the tightening credit conditions as an opportunity to boost its 3% share of the UK mortgage market.

Abbey, which is owned by Spain’s Santander, has written close to 20% of all the mortgages handed out in Britain in the first quarter, according to sources close to the company. The bank is funding its expansion in the market by attracting more money from savers, analysts say.

It's a little bit of good news for us. If Merrill Lynch are the only bank Hicks is borrowing from, he will have extreme difficulty borrowing more if the bank is recording losses like these. Also if the 90 day buying clause is anything to go by, he mightn't be able to generate enough funds to buy us outright. Which means the fat cunt will struggle even more.

Just thought it was worth posting.

[05 Milan]

I thought ML were merely his financial advisors, and that they were only assisting in bringing external investors in.

[Malarkey]

Are they going to pack bags in Asda or something? Open a hand car wash?

[BROCK]

When I saw the title I thought they were going to be doing fun-runs and a tombola.

All banks are in the same position at the minute and it's only going to get worse I think.

[Josey Wales]

Did he not borrow from RBS and Wachovia?

[john23liverpool]

I reckon DIC will fuck parry right off as a sweetener to the fans. I hope so anyway.....

[Malarkey]

Originally Posted by Josey Wales

Did he not borrow from RBS and Wachovia?

RBS have pulled out. Even I'm not correct on this one, they've recorded record losses too.

[kopitegaz]

Originally Posted by navbasi

Pass these round...

16 between the whole forum?

[rondeco]

Originally Posted by Soleilrouge

Hicks has done some service by exposing Parry publicly. The reality is our club has under-achieved under Moores and Parry. Moores also sold the club down the swanny for an extra stg 8million in his own bank account and then moans about the behaviour of the current owners - he is the most pathetic figure in all of this. The present crisis is about who blinks first - Gillette or Hicks. Either scenario is better than the current stand-off. The good news is there is too much money involved for the stand-off to last much longer. The bad news is it could mess up our transfer activity if it goes into the summer. However, it will resolve itself soon.

What makes you so confident it will be resolved soon....

[Faustus]

This all feels like a bad nightmare.

I read somewhere in The Times that we may be forced to sell Torres and Babel if we can't payback the loan; which I pray is a load of bollocks.

[cochcaer]

I'm not sure any PR agency can help Hicks now, yesterday was a major effort aided by Sky but its failed dismally.

[Dirk]

Originally Posted by Faustus

This all feels like a bad nightmare.

I read somewhere in The Times that we may be forced to sell Torres and Babel if we can't payback the loan; which I pray is a load of bollocks.

It was an absolutely shite article, mate. In other news, your home will be repossessed if you don't keep up the loan repayments. No shit.

[bigredruss]

Originally Posted by BROCK

When I saw the title I thought they were going to be doing fun-runs and a tombola.

All banks are in the same position at the minute and it's only going to get worse I think.

you bet it will, biggest banks not passing on interest rate cuts and withdrawing services and mortgages. and credit card are either cancelled or some rates are doubled we all will feel the pinch