BBC headline: DIC to bid for whole club

[zigackly]

The Americans paid around £180m and absorbed an additional £40m of debt when they took over from David Moores, but they argue that Rafa Benitez's transfer dealings have pushed their total outgoings beyond £250m.

 

This is something I don't get. Has not even one of these reporters bothered to work out that we've got more than £30M extra revenues coming in this season due to the new TV deal? Meaning that Hicks and Gillett are trying to borrow money for these transfers, which they have already had. Let alone our usual transfer budget. Meanwhile other clubs are using some of that money on top of their normal budgets in an effort to nick fourth place off us. Which appears on the face of it to be working.

[Thants]

Who'd have thought business regarding hundreds of millions of pounds could be complicated?

[Guest Caffreys]

It's brinkmanship, no more. He seems more concerned in answering the remarks on 5Live this morning about his son's comments, and getting the point across that although he's in it for the long run, the cleverly worded article allows scope for interpretation (intend is the word that gives me hope the most). Plus the fact it is not on the offal as opposed to last week's Klinsmann exclusive. On that programme it was also mentioned about the relationship between G&H, has he denied that tonight? Was Gillett mentioned tonight? Seemed all about Hicks and his family and maybe he is now pissing against the wind on his own and being forced into a corner.

 

BTW if you are reading these forums, Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks as I am in no doubt you have someone scanning these lines, fuck off you are not welcome. You talked the talk but that was it.

[Rashid]

Tom Hicks puts block on quick sale

Oliver Kay

 

The ownership crisis at Liverpool threatens to drag on after it emerged last night that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have rejected an initial proposal of a £300 million offer for the club from Dubai International Capital (DIC).

 

Hicks and Gillett are prepared to listen to offers for Liverpool less than a year after buying the club, but contrary to suggestions that another takeover is imminent, the American tycoons have already rejected the informal bid from DIC with Hicks’s approach to negotiations raising serious doubts over whether a deal can be struck. Rather than be forced into a quick sale, they plan to proceed tomorrow with a £350 million refinancing plan that will help to stabilise their regime, at least in the short term, and strengthen their bargaining position.

 

News of the Americans’ intransigence will unsettle Rafael BenÍtez, who has little chance of keeping his job as manager under the present regime, and also Liverpool supporters, who have made clear their disapproval of the owners. Many fans welcomed the Americans with open arms at the time of their takeover last February, but there will be angry demonstrations against them when Liverpool take on Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League in front of the television cameras this evening.

 

Liverpool will wait to see what effect the Americans’ refinancing plan and their apparent intransigence has on DIC, which is regarded by many at Anfield as potential “saviours” of the club. There is a widespread feeling at all levels of the club that it was a serious mistake to sell to Hicks and Gillett last February and there is concern that DIC, the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai Government, could be priced out of the bidding for a second time because of an unrealistic valuation placed on the club by the owners. That valuation of Liverpool is based on a belief that the club will be worth almost £1 billion once the new 70,000-capacity stadium is built.

 

Responding to reports that he had agreed a deal to sell the club to DIC, Hicks issued a statement last night. “I have not received any offer to purchase the club from DIC or anyone else, much less accepted any offer,” he said. “Nor do I have any intention of doing so. Whoever is behind this false report, the facts are that I and my family remain fully committed to co-owning the club, that no one in my family has ever indicated any intention or desire to sell our stake in the club and that we expect and intend . . . to actively and enthusiastically support the club’s manager, players and fans for many years to come.”

 

The picture painted by Hicks’s statement is unrealistic, with sources in his camp indicating that informal negotiations are taking place with DIC. There have been many conversations between the two parties for the past fortnight, most recently on Saturday, but DIC is understood to be concerned by Hicks’s approach, sensing that the Texan has no intention of selling unless he and Gillett make a huge profit. Their initial proposal � not a formal offer � was dismissed out of hand, with the parties poles apart in their valuation of the club.

[Carra_is_legend]

This is something I don't get. Has not even one of these reporters bothered to work out that we've got more than £30M extra revenues coming in this season due to the new TV deal? Meaning that Hicks and Gillett are trying to borrow money for these transfers, which they have already had. Let alone our usual transfer budget. Meanwhile other clubs are using some of that money on top of their normal budgets in an effort to nick fourth place off us. Which appears on the face of it to be working.

 

Do you realise that we are now being owned by couple of money grabbing cunts? The "our usual transfer budget" you are talking about could have now become "our usual yearly dividends" for those two fuckwits. The fact that they bought Torres and Babel using credit notes prove that these two yanks aren't prepared to put a penny of the "profit" back into the club.

[zigackly]

Do you realise that we are now being owned by couple of money grabbing cunts?

 

Of course I do. But I'm interested that none of the press seem to have pulled them up on this.

[TheDrowningMan]

Are they really fucking thick enough to believe that the club will be worth a billion simply because of the stadium? IT WON'T BE WHEN IT'S A MID-TABLE / OR POSSIBLY A CHAMPIONSHIP OUTFIT BECAUSE YOU'VE STAKED SO MUCH AGAINST THE CLUB AND FAILED TO OFFER SUFFICIENT TRANSFER FUNDS.

 

The pair are fucked up, cunt faced pieces of human excrement.

[Section_31]

but DIC is understood to be concerned by Hicks’s approach, sensing that the Texan has no intention of selling unless he and Gillett make a huge profit. Their initial proposal � not a formal offer � was dismissed out of hand, with the parties poles apart in their valuation of the club.

 

Odious fucking human rat!!!

[RedKnight]

Motherfuckers are like limpets. Let go of the club!

[Anny Road]

I think we all need to chill out a bit. What will be will be.

Rash I wish you would stop posting the gossip of the day as fact it gets peoples hopes up when you realy have no basis for it, even if you believe/wish it to be true. Don't blame you mind.

 

I dont have great contacts but do have some family who are in a round about way employed by the club, Insurance/Transport, shit like that. I have heard so many conflicting pieces of gossip over the last week that if I had posted what I had heard a week ago I would now look like a complete arse.

Truth is the only reliable source to have come out so far is Bascombe and he did not mince his words, I remain positive.

[Guest Caffreys]

Tom Hicks puts block on quick sale

Oliver Kay

 

The ownership crisis at Liverpool threatens to drag on after it emerged last night that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have rejected an initial proposal of a £300 million offer for the club from Dubai International Capital (DIC).

 

Hicks and Gillett are prepared to listen to offers for Liverpool less than a year after buying the club, but contrary to suggestions that another takeover is imminent, the American tycoons have already rejected the informal bid from DIC with Hicks’s approach to negotiations raising serious doubts over whether a deal can be struck. Rather than be forced into a quick sale, they plan to proceed tomorrow with a £350 million refinancing plan that will help to stabilise their regime, at least in the short term, and strengthen their bargaining position.

 

News of the Americans’ intransigence will unsettle Rafael BenÍtez, who has little chance of keeping his job as manager under the present regime, and also Liverpool supporters, who have made clear their disapproval of the owners. Many fans welcomed the Americans with open arms at the time of their takeover last February, but there will be angry demonstrations against them when Liverpool take on Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League in front of the television cameras this evening.

 

Liverpool will wait to see what effect the Americans’ refinancing plan and their apparent intransigence has on DIC, which is regarded by many at Anfield as potential “saviours” of the club. There is a widespread feeling at all levels of the club that it was a serious mistake to sell to Hicks and Gillett last February and there is concern that DIC, the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai Government, could be priced out of the bidding for a second time because of an unrealistic valuation placed on the club by the owners. That valuation of Liverpool is based on a belief that the club will be worth almost £1 billion once the new 70,000-capacity stadium is built.

 

Responding to reports that he had agreed a deal to sell the club to DIC, Hicks issued a statement last night. “I have not received any offer to purchase the club from DIC or anyone else, much less accepted any offer,” he said. “Nor do I have any intention of doing so. Whoever is behind this false report, the facts are that I and my family remain fully committed to co-owning the club, that no one in my family has ever indicated any intention or desire to sell our stake in the club and that we expect and intend . . . to actively and enthusiastically support the club’s manager, players and fans for many years to come.”

 

The picture painted by Hicks’s statement is unrealistic, with sources in his camp indicating that informal negotiations are taking place with DIC. There have been many conversations between the two parties for the past fortnight, most recently on Saturday, but DIC is understood to be concerned by Hicks’s approach, sensing that the Texan has no intention of selling unless he and Gillett make a huge profit. Their initial proposal � not a formal offer � was dismissed out of hand, with the parties poles apart in their valuation of the club.

 

David Moores' close friend is reporting this so the assumption is that this is as close to the truth we will get from the press tomorrow. And it all points to one man's stubborness yet again. How on earth can Moores and Parry sleep at night? How could they get the biggest decision in LFC's history so spectacularly wrong?

[Rashid]

I think we all need to chill out a bit. What will be will be.

Rash I wish you would stop posting the gossip of the day as fact it gets peoples hopes up when you realy have no basis for it, even if you believe/wish it to be true. Don't blame you mind.

 

I dont have great contacts but do have some family who are in a round about way employed by the club, Insurance/Transport, shit like that. I have heard so many conflicting pieces of gossip over the last week that if I had posted what I had heard a week ago I would now look like a complete arse.

Truth is the only reliable source to have come out so far is Bascombe and he did not mince his words, I remain positive.

 

I have been told they have agreed to sell and its a matter of time. I stand by that.

[Carra_is_legend]

Of course I do. But I'm interested that none of the press seem to have pulled them up on this.

 

If the question was ever asked by a journalist, they will most likely get the "mind your fucking business" answer from them. They own the club - they can do whatever they want to. TV money, gate receipts and other profits that we make - it is really upto them on how they spend it. They can put it back into the club and make us stronger in the pitch, or they could take the money as "dividends".

[EmilHamilton]

So they're going to negotiate a price. DIC aren't stupid, they know there's going to be an initial rejection of their approach.

 

But if they are serious about the purchase of the club, they obviously won't pay whatever Gillett and Hicks want but they'll haggle until they find an agreeable valuation.

[Falconetti]

If the question was ever asked by a journalist, they will most likely get the "mind your fucking business" answer from them. They own the club - they can do whatever they want to. TV money, gate receipts and other profits that we make - it is really upto them on how they spend it. They can put it back into the club and make us stronger in the pitch, or they could take the money as "dividends".

 

you should watch this then:

 

Major League Baseball: Media Player

 

Apparantly the profit from Liverpool will be spent on Texas Rangers and Dallas .

[Anny Road]

I have been told they have agreed to sell and its a matter of time. I stand by that.

 

Not disputing that Rash but step back sometimes and hold that thought.

[zigackly]

Nevermind.

[Carra_is_legend]

So they're going to negotiate a price. DIC aren't stupid, they know there's going to be an initial rejection of their approach.

 

But if they are serious about the purchase of the club, they obviously won't pay whatever Gillett and Hicks want but they'll haggle until they find an agreeable valuation.

 

Aye. DIC have nothing to lose and there is no way they will pay over the odds. I can see this dragging on for weeks - unless DIC comes out and denies the whole thing.

[EmilHamilton]

Personally I think it's a situation where a price can be agreed I'm sure. Gillett and Hicks know that they won't last here long because of the rather insane level of opposition to their ownership, which isn't going to just disappear soon.

 

If DIC want us, they'll agree a price I reckon.

[Code]

Tom Hicks puts block on quick sale

Oliver Kay

 

I hope this is not the article you talked about last night Rashid?

[DJLJ]

Or it'll go the other way. If these 2 clowns gets forced out by angry supporters, they might face the same at their other teams, which they don't want either.

[Rashid]

Change of owners would leave Reds in the black

 

KAREN GILES January 21 2008

 

Barely 12 months after stepping on to the Anfield pitch, draped in club colours and stressing their allegiance, Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks look set to trade in their scarves for a quick profit. Disconcerted by the hostility of supporters towards their involvement and no longer convinced by the club's investment potential, the American pair are weighing up an alleged £400m offer from Dubai International Capital.

 

To the immense relief of manager Rafael Benitez who has spent the best part of this season at loggerheads with the club's owners, Gillett and Hicks will almost certainly decide to jump ship. While DIC, the investment arm of the Dubai government, have no intention of paying over the odds for the club, their offer is said to allow each American the chance to walk away from a difficult situation with a face-saving profit.

 

It would be the best scenario for all concerned. Despite the initial euphoria after Gillett and Hicks tied the knot last February, the relationship between the club and its billionaire owners has always been strained. No money was made available to Benitez in the transfer window and last week Hicks admitted to sounding out Jurgen Klinsmann as a possible successor to the Spaniard.

 

advertisement

The Americans, who have not invested a single dollar of their own personal fortune in the club, have found running a football club more difficult and less profitable than they envisaged. The locals have proved hostile, the manager an awkward customer and as for the £350m debt incurred in taking over the club last February, it needs refinancing quickly.

 

In an attempt to generate additional funds for the development of the new stadium, Gillett and Hicks are now seeking to transfer the debt for which they are personally responsible on to the club. But any such package will involve a substantial arrangement fee believed to be in the region of £40m and incur annual interest of £30m.

 

For a club that has always taken great pride in its sound financial footing, the figures make unpleasant reading. Instead of the Americans bringing stability and prosperity, Liverpool could soon be burdened with debt and unable to finance a serious tilt at the title let alone the building of the new stadium.

 

As far as Liverpool supporters are concerned, the sooner Gillett and Hicks sell up and ship out the better. Before Christmas, there was a degree of sympathy for the Americans as the churlish Benitez threw his toys out of the pram after being told there was no more money to spend. Now the tables have turned.

 

Thanks to that ill-conceived conversation with Klinsmann, Benitez is now flavour of the month while Hicks and Gillett are considered the enemy. For all the club's obvious problems on the pitch - they trail Manchester United by 15 points - Liverpool fans are now backing Benitez to the hilt.

 

Some would argue they have no choice. The squad that Benitez has spent a fortune piecing together has a distinctly Spanish flavour. To lose the manager in a bloody coup would be to jeopardise everything Benitez has put in place over the last three years. Fernando Torres, Liverpool's club record signing, could easily follow his compatriot out of the door.

 

The concept of loyalty is something Gillett and Hicks have struggled to grasp during their brief and uncomfortable association with English football. It came as a shock to learn how influential fans can be. As for the passion, in the stands and on the streets, it is an alien concept because theirs was never about emotional involvement. It was purely about money.

 

For the visit of Aston Villa this evening, the Kop is planning a demonstration. The timing is unfortunate because since Randy Lerner took charge of Liverpool's opponents, Villa have given the impression they are a club going forward, slowly but with purpose. While Benitez has been hamstrung by American intervention, Martin O'Neill has been left to get on with the job.

 

It's a bit like the Glaser family at Old Trafford, where Sir Alex Ferguson calls all the shots, regardless of American influence in the boardroom. How former Liverpool chairman David Moores must regret doing business with Gillett and Hicks. Given the stalling of the stadium project and the shabby treatment of Benitez, it was the wrong choice.

 

For Liverpool's sake, let's hope those responsible for the current mess make the right one this week and close the door on their way out. If nothing else Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, whose estimated £7bn fortune helps bankroll DIC, knows a thing or two about sport. And Benitez will be left in peace.

 

© All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

[EmilHamilton]

I doubt that'll happen, DJLJ.

 

Hicks hasn't got any debt loaded onto Rangers or the Stars, whilst Gillett is quite liked in fact at the Canadiens because he's kept them relatively competitive whilst again serving the fans well.

 

We're the only ones who are really being stoked this way.

 

Which newspaper is the Giles piece from?

[Thants]

A quarter of us didn't want them originally, and now we all (ish) do. How sad a situation this is.

[Dougie Do'ins]

Personally I think it's a situation where a price can be agreed I'm sure. Gillett and Hicks know that they won't last here long because of the rather insane level of opposition to their ownership, which isn't going to just disappear soon.

 

If DIC want us, they'll agree a price I reckon.

Thats one of the problems there not here to take the flak they put the twat Parry out to take it and it just seems to be like water of a ducks back to him.