Gillett and Hicks (ownership saga)

[Dougie Do'ins]

Just another slant on thing from The Sunday Telegraph.

 

 

 

By Rory Smith

Last Updated: 11:40AM GMT 25 Jan 2009

 

 

Investors will make Liverpool sweat

Liverpool face months of uncertainty over their future ownership as potential suitors have indicated they will wait until the last minute to get the best possible price for the club.

 

Reported talks with the family of Kuwaiti billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi have been met with an emphatic denial by his representatives, and Gulf sources believe the fact that rumours emerged of talks taking place is just a sign of Hicks's desperation to sell.

 

Investors believe that the current owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, will be forced to lower their £500 million asking price as the July deadline for the repayment or refinancing of their £350 million loan from RBS and Wachovia approaches.

 

Should the American duo fail to strike a deal with one of "fewer than five" possible investors, the troubled banks could seize the asset or even call in an administrator to try to sell the club.

 

City sources suggest the chances of the loan being refinanced are close to zero, given the current plight of both banks. Other investment giants are believed to offer little hope of redemption unless there is a massive upward turn in the state of the market before the summer.

 

That leaves selling the club as the only viable option for Hicks and Gillett, but their efforts to do so thus far have brought little success, even as forced sellers. Telegraph Sport understands that Hicks has been actively seeking to sell the club for more than a year through investment bank Merrill Lynch.

 

One potential stumbling block could be Hicks's determination to retain a seat on the board at Anfield, something investors may be unwilling to countenance. With the threat of administration, though, such considerations may be sacrificed.

 

Such talk is hardly the ideal backdrop for Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who insists he knew nothing about the latest development in the boardroom saga, ahead of today's FA Cup clash with Everton.

 

 

Investors will make Liverpool sweat - Telegraph

[Guest Kenny]

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks will try to end club's civil war - mirror.co.uk

[Slimmy]

DUBAI INTEREST STILL IN RECKONING | Football Transfer News, Football News, Fixtures, Results, Match Reports, Stats

 

DUBAI INTEREST STILL IN RECKONING

 

By Paul Walker, PA Sport

 

Speculation is growing in the Middle East that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, thought to have lost interest in the Anfield club last year as the credit crunch started to bite, may be preparing another move for the club.

 

But if that does happen, it will only be during the summer as Liverpool's current American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett try to extend their £350million loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia - a prospect which, in the current financial climate, looks remote.

 

Sheikh Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai and founder of Dubai International Capital, who were involved in lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful negotiations to buy the club last year.

 

The Sheikh then took on the potential takeover on a personal level, but also opted to pull away several months ago.

 

But with the intense rivalry between the Arab states over ownership of Premier League clubs, the Sheikh is again believed to be reviewing the situation.

 

It emerged last week that a Kuwaiti group, the oil-rich Al-Kharafi family, were involved in talks - initially with Hicks - over a potential buyout, plus the £400m financing of the club's proposed new stadium.

 

But the £600m asking price was considered too high and, following the amount of publicity the offer generated, it is now believed consortium leader Nasser Al-Kharafi has pulled out of negotiations.

 

A source close to the Middle East groups said: "The price was too high and the Kuwaitis were annoyed that their interest was leaked.

 

"Surely in the current climate, and with time running out on the Americans who must repay or re-finance their loan in July, nobody is going to buy Liverpool at this present time.

 

"The price drops with every passing day, and any prospective buyer would now wait until the summer before making a move. By then, the Americans would have to accept a much lower price - around £400m or lower."

 

That applies if the Americans fail to re-negotiate their current deal, although there have been suggestions they still have hopes of achieving that.

 

RBS were prepared to give them a six-month extension on that loan this month. But that was an existing deal, and they are highly unlikely to take on a new agreement with the Americans.

 

The source said: "With the Government now with majority control of RBS, it would seem unlikely that Liverpool would be allowed a huge new loan while other businesses around the country are not."

 

It has already been suggested there is a new interest from Dubai, plus half a dozen other interested parties who will to talk to Hicks and Gillett.

 

Talks involving Liverpool's finance director Phillip Nash and the commercial director Ian Ayre - along with high-level Hicks negotiators from Dallas - were held talks last week in London and the Middle East with the Kuwaitis.

 

But the £600m price was a sticking point, as were attempts by Hicks to continue as a minority shareholder. That looks to have brought him back into conflict with Gillett, who wants both Americans to leave on the same terms.

 

Reports of internal friction at Anfield have therefore surfaced again, with manager Rafael Benitez and chief executive Rick Parry seemingly supporting different factions.

 

Last season it was Hicks who blocked the bid from DIC that was supported by Gillett - and now the co-owners appear to be at loggerheads again.

 

They will both be at next Sunday's home game against Chelsea, Hicks arriving a few days earlier in the hope of breaking the impasse over Benitez's new contract.

 

Sheikh Maktoum and his Dubai associates, meanwhile, are watching and waiting.

[coop]

DIC wanting to buy Liverpool was purely a business decision and getting involved with Gillett and Hicks in a bidding war was not good business.

 

Gillett and Hicks especially were expecting to put all the debt on the club get the stadium built all via loans and take some very nice dividends along the way.

 

All this that DIC and Sheikh Maktoum are desperate to own Liverpool is bullshit.

 

If they were desperate to own Liverpool they already would.

 

At the end of the day it has always been about business and DIC/Dubai could see the potential of owning Liverpool as they could make money by improving the marketing/merchandise and building a new stadium.

 

Basically the things Hicks and Gillett want to do but DIC/Dubai would have the financial backing to be able to do it.

 

Anyone who buys the club will be in it to make money. Don't be fooled into thinking that some Liverpool fan is going to buy the club and lavish millions on the club and want nothing in return because that is not going to happen.

 

DIC/Dubai should have increased their bid but they will have had strict investment instructions to not go above a certain amount hence in the latter months it was no longer DIC but Dubai/Sheikh Maktoum who were involved in the deal.

[SCOUSE TAPAS]

DIC should feel humiliated & defeated because that is what they were.

 

Parry stalled because he was offered cash & to remain in his job.

Why did DIC not offer him more cash? £3m severance should have done it.

 

Moores stalled beacuse he got extra cash & kept his vanity titles.

Why did DIC not offer a little bit more cash & the vanity titles which mean nothing anyway?

 

DIC are meant to be international M&A experts.

But in the last paragraph you say they were out-witted by Parry.

 

The vast majority of M&A deals have these sort of sweetners in but suddenly they are a surprise to DIC?

 

The only justification for not using a few extra quid to grease the wheel of the deal is if the price is already at full value.

It clearly wasn't even close to it as our value has stayed the same in the middle of the biggest crash for 70 years.

 

DIC cocked it up pure & simple.

 

Disagree there.The deal was done with DIC they were just waiting to sign the done deal,which had been agreed with Moores.

 

The weekend they were suppose to be signing the papers.Freddy and Coco were going back on what had been agreed with DIC,and negotiated a deal with the yanks.

Thats what pissed DIC off not the extra money part.If imo Freddy and Coco had told them that there was another interested party before agreeing the deal with DIC,I think DIC would have matched or paid more for us.

Its basically the way Freddy and Coco went behind there backs.

[James Dean]

Blablablabla.

 

 

Bla.

[Slimmy]

Coop, in your opinion who will own Liverpool at the start of next season?

[zigackly]

They will make a profit whenever they sell the club so long as there is more than one buyer interested. So from their point of view there is no point selling early for too low a price. They will have a figure in mind which they want to make at minimum. Similarly potential buyers will have a price in mind which will take into account that they aren't going to get it too cheap as there are other interested parties, but there is no need to pay the current asking price when it's still falling. At the moment the two prices are still some distance away so no-one is going to buy or sell anything yet. I doubt the yanks nerve will hold until July though. At some point the sellers price will approach the buyers price and then the deal will be done quickly with whichever buyer is prepared to pay most sealing the deal. I reckon it will happen around April or May personally. Just a hunch.

[coop]

Coop, in your opinion who will own Liverpool at the start of next season?

 

My opinion mate is i have no idea.

 

I would not be surprised to see Sheikh Maktoum as owner lets put it that way.

 

I honestly did not think Hicks and Gillett would be able to hold out this long and can not see them owning us past the summer.

 

The key for me is Gilletts statement in the Bascombe article.

 

If George Gillett refuses to sell his shares to anyone without Hicks going as well then that means it would force a full take over as Gillett i believe will not want to refinance in the summer but to get out now.

 

Hicks its clear wants to find a buyer for Gilletts shares and possibly part of his own so that they can get the stadium built and whatever percentage Hicks maintains will be worth a lot more thenit currently is.

 

The problem being for Hicks is if Gillett wont sell his 50% we are back to the stalemate situation again which is why Hicks is trying the bully boy tactics and trying to force Gillett out.

[Catch22]

Disagree there.The deal was done with DIC they were just waiting to sign the done deal,which had been agreed with Moores.

 

The weekend they were suppose to be signing the papers.Freddy and Coco were going back on what had been agreed with DIC,and negotiated a deal with the yanks.

Thats what pissed DIC off not the extra money part.If imo Freddy and Coco had told them that there was another interested party before agreeing the deal with DIC,I think DIC would have matched or paid more for us.

Its basically the way Freddy and Coco went behind there backs.

 

 

But that happens all the time.

 

It even regulalry happens when our property is going up, so much that it has an actual word., "gazumping".

 

We were A LOT more than the Yanks or DIC actually offered (see the price move since relative to Uk equities)

 

So, DIC were trying to screw DM & get it cheap- nothing wrong with that.

 

Another bidder comes in which pushes the price closer to the real value.

 

And when in international M&A do people not go behind eachother's backs? It's part of the game.

 

DIC tried to get us on the cheap (no probs with that) but were out-negotiated by the Yanks

[Catch22]

DIC wanting to buy Liverpool was purely a business decision and getting involved with Gillett and Hicks in a bidding war was not good business.

 

Gillett and Hicks especially were expecting to put all the debt on the club get the stadium built all via loans and take some very nice dividends along the way.

 

All this that DIC and Sheikh Maktoum are desperate to own Liverpool is bullshit.

 

If they were desperate to own Liverpool they already would.

 

At the end of the day it has always been about business and DIC/Dubai could see the potential of owning Liverpool as they could make money by improving the marketing/merchandise and building a new stadium.

 

Basically the things Hicks and Gillett want to do but DIC/Dubai would have the financial backing to be able to do it.

 

Anyone who buys the club will be in it to make money. Don't be fooled into thinking that some Liverpool fan is going to buy the club and lavish millions on the club and want nothing in return because that is not going to happen.

 

DIC/Dubai should have increased their bid but they will have had strict investment instructions to not go above a certain amount hence in the latter months it was no longer DIC but Dubai/Sheikh Maktoum who were involved in the deal.

 

Of course it was a business decision.

 

"getting involved with Gillett and Hicks in a bidding war was not good business."

That is not correct. An asset has an intristic real value of £x. If you get involved in a bidding war beyond £x it is bad business.

If you do not have capital constraints (ie/ could use the money elsehwere for a better return) then a bidding war beneath £x is good business: it reduces your total return but you still make a great return.

 

Clearly the price we were finally sold at was far below £x as it has not fallen whilst everything else has.

 

So it was bad business not to pay £15m more get it, & still make a lot of money.

 

I do not want a sugar daddy owner; i want some-one to finance the stadium, which allows us to compete on the field without having to rely on Rafa's genius & if they make money, then great: they wouldn't do it otherwise.

 

DIC would also have tried to put all the debt to buy the club & build the stadium.

If they didn't they would have been complete mong's as it is the most tax- & capital- efficient way to do it.

 

That leveraged method of finance has collapsed for now & will not recover for a long time.

 

So the owners will now have to use real capital to build the stadium.

That is still profitable but unfortunately capital is scarce all over the world at the moment so there are other,massive opportunities out there if you have it.

 

If they are more profitable than Lfc, DIC or anyone else will do them instead.

 

DIC had no different approach to the Yanks. They were out-negotiated by them.

 

Had the world not deleveraged, the Yanks would have built the stadium with the bank's money (as it makes them more)

 

DIC are less capital-constrained but EVERYBODY in the world is now capital constrained.

 

As always, the fault lies with DM/Parry who didn't build the stadium when finance for it was plentiful & cheap.

[Guest Ulysses Everett McGill]

In what way? who are these Freud people you speak of? You'll need to be a bit less subtle mate.

 

Freud Communications, which is run by Rupert Murdochs son-in-law, are one of the PR firms that have been contracted by the Hicks family.

 

Their job is to shape public opinion of Tom Hicks and his family, offer advice to the family and spin any negative press.

 

It just strikes me as rather callous that they should choose to brief The Sun amongst others (The Mail and The Telegraph) in regards to the potential interest from Kuwait.

 

To be fair, you would have to assume that the Hicks family were not aware of who their PR firm was breifing.

 

The same cannot be said of Freud, who would have known exactly what they were doing.

[Guest Kenny]

Liverpool owner Tom Hicks: I'm not selling - I want a new partner instead - mirror.co.uk

[coop]

Liverpool owner Tom Hicks: I'm not selling - I want a new partner instead - mirror.co.uk

 

I think it was Tony Barrett who commented about Hicks wanting a new partner.

 

Like Tony said Hicks was saying this last April but he still is waiting.

[Guest Kenny]

I think it was Tony Barrett who commented about Hicks wanting a new partner.

 

Like Tony said Hicks was saying this last April but he still is waiting.

 

coops, any truth that Dubai are preparing another bid?

[05 Milan]

When is the storm coming?

[sh#t waffle]

Coop, can you tell me if I'll ever find true love?

[JohnnyH]

Who in their right mind would go into business with Tom Hicks?

 

We need to make sure at the Chelsea game that anyone wanting to go into business with Hicks knows EXACTLY how the Liverpool fans feel about him. We need to let them know that a complete buyout is the only option.

[Carra_is_legend]

coops, any truth that Dubai are preparing another bid?

 

He has already said what he knows mate.

 

No point in asking him 10 times a day.

[Carra_is_legend]

Who in their right mind would go into business with Tom Hicks?

 

Those who are solely interested in making money. Whether they are prepared to go in as a minority shareholder is another issue.

 

Everyone wants a piece of LFC's current and future earnings. If Hicks knows what exactly he is doing, and if he is prepared to be a minority investor, my gut feel is that he will find someone. Although, may be not at the current level of money Hicks is demanding.

 

There are plenty of cunts in the business world - cunts who don't give a toss about the public (or fans in this case). We have atleast 4 cunts in our club and 2 of these cunts own the club. The 2 cunts are only interested in making money so if they are looking for another cunt - to join the 2 cunts or to replace 1 cunt out of the two - and if the 3rd cunt is also interested in making money, why not. After all, the club has still got its legs spread, showing the cunt, to be fucked by cunts.

[jonnann]

Interesting reading regarding Kop Football Limited.

This Is Anfield • View topic - TAKEOVER Talk Thread v.4: Kuwaitis to take over?

[Guest Kenny]

He has already said what he knows mate.

 

No point in asking him 10 times a day.

 

Ive asked him once and my post was obviously missed mate, but no worries.

[Carra_is_legend]

Ive asked him once and my post was obviously missed mate, but no worries.

 

We are all anxious about the situation mate and I'm sure Coop (or anyone) will let us know the moment they hear more about the situation.

 

As it stands, I don't think anyone knows what is going to happen - including the cunts Hicks and Gillett.

[coop]

Sorry if i missed your post Kenny.

 

The situation has not changed in my personal opinion.

 

Dubai initially made an offer that would have given both owners and substantial profit but they turned it down.

 

Dubai walked away then from the deal but its pretty obvious then no-one will pay the £500-600 million the owners want so Dubai as well probably another couple of people will return when the figure drops down to around the £350-400 million mark.

[Section_31]

The world's got G&H by the balls now as opposed to the other way around. Even my cat knows their financial situation is dire, and no business man in his right mind would pay over the odds for the club knowing that a sale could be forced through by the banks 'on the cheap' a couple of months down the line.

Nor would any serious business entity wish to eneter into a partnership with someone of Tom Hicks' ilk, because he's a dilettante.