Barclays Capital Appointed to Find a Purchaser for the Club

[Springer]

Havent we had people hired before to sell us?

 

Fucking joke.

 

 

 

And another thing: if this was a battle between good and bad, who`s the good guys in this soap opera?

[andrew78]

Can someone explain what this actually means,ie if barclays refinance us do you think theres a condition to sell at a realistic price,cause who the fucks gunna shell out 500 mill and a new stadium

[StevieH]

The latest twist in this story is apparently there is no refinancing deal with Barclays.

[Liverpool lad]

This summer could be interesting then

[Drewas]

The latest twist in this story is apparently there is no refinancing deal with Barclays.

 

The guys over on TIA seem to think Barclays already have someone lined up with ties to both Barclays and Martin Broughton.

[redsfan]

The guys over on TIA seem to think Barclays already have someone lined up with ties to both Barclays and Martin Broughton.

 

Mentioned something like that before in that could this rapidly happen because of these 2 developments! Wonder if we will wake up one morning to the knowledge we will have new owners :biggrin:

[zigackly]

Might as well look in one of these as believe anything written about our finances.

 

[spider-neil]

The latest twist in this story is apparently there is no refinancing deal with Barclays.

 

where did you read that?

[BolshieBastard]

Can someone explain what this actually means,ie if barclays refinance us do you think theres a condition to sell at a realistic price,cause who the fucks gunna shell out 500 mill and a new stadium

 

Who knows what conditions barcrap would attach to their loan. However, I think its highly unlikely barcrap could and would insist on a 'reasonable' sale price.

 

The owners are alleged to want 600m but this article in the telegraph suggests the club is worth £290m.

 

Tom Hicks and George Gillett ready to sell Liverpool - Telegraph

 

I previously suggestted the top price a potential buyer would pay was £250m so not far out. But it depends who will pay 290m for the club.

[derykw]

In the last few years we`ve had: Hawkspoint, PriceWaterhouseCoopers,(or whatever they`re called) and now BarclaysCapital all on the payroll looking for investors and AFI and HKS architects designing and redesigning the non existent stadium. By the end it will probably of cost the Club about £50m for absolutely fuck-all.

 

No new stadium and £300m in hock. If this new search for investment fails I predict we`ll be relegated within 5 years.

[HJohal]

We don't know the ins and outs of the deal mate so its impossible for me to judge whether this is good or bad.

 

The main worry is we have gone from RBS asking for the debt to be reduced to £137m to suddenly going to £300m in debt.

 

Without Champions League (i know other revenues have increased) then i don't see how we can afford the payments.

 

For me the big difference that has happened is that both owners want out.

 

In the past we have heard about how Gillett wants to leave but Hicks wants to remain in some capacity but it seems finally that both now have had enough and want to leave.

 

The press release regards £600m came direct from Hicks and Gillett PR team.

 

BarCap will obviously make money from the club regards interest payments but also on the sale of the club which is why i imagine they have a different figure in mind of what they can achieve.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see Purslow remain at the club as he was there as a MD whereas Broughton is getting appointed as the Chairman.

 

The difference it seems between Purslow's plight over the last 12 months and Broughton is the latter as been asked to look for a buyer for the club whereas Purslow was asked to look for the £100m to satisfy RBS.

 

The one hope i have is that Broughton (who appears to be well respected in the business world) has better contacts and is confident of a sale.

 

Also i very much doubt BarCap will enter into the agreement with their eyes shut and maybe able to open more doors due to their Middle Eastern connections that were previously closed.

 

The bold part is the question which is puzzling - we can't afford to service the interest on 237M debt under the current circumstances and yet Barclays have extended this to 300M with the knowledge that CL football is highly unlikely this year and by no means certain in the next few years with the arrival of Man City's petrodollars - why would a highly respected investment bank do this under the current economic environment - unless they have a buyer in the frame of course?

[The Party Boy]

The bold part is the question which is puzzling - we can't afford to service the interest on 237M debt under the current circumstances and yet Barclays have extended this to 300M with the knowledge that CL football is highly unlikely this year and by no means certain in the next few years with the arrival of Man City's petrodollars - why would a highly respected investment bank do this under the current economic environment - unless they have a buyer in the frame of course?

 

It's the one thing that's giving me hope. How have they been struggling round for finance then out of nowhere pull 300 million out the bag?

[BolshieBastard]

The bold part is the question which is puzzling - we can't afford to service the interest on 237M debt under the current circumstances and yet Barclays have extended this to 300M with the knowledge that CL football is highly unlikely this year and by no means certain in the next few years with the arrival of Man City's petrodollars - why would a highly respected investment bank do this under the current economic environment - unless they have a buyer in the frame of course?

 

It would depend on the term of the loan. If these are spread long term, the repayments on a bigger loan will be less.

 

The obvious issue is why would the loan be over a longer term if the owners are looking to sell? Well, the answer is in the asking price.

 

If as alleged, the owners want 600m, we'll be up for sale for some time and this would fit in with a longer repayment term.

[coop]

Doesn't the article in the previous page state refinance has not been granted and that would be upto the 'new' owners.

[StevieH]

Hope on horizon for Liverpool despite stadium woe - Times Online

 

At last, light appears at the end of the Liverpool tunnel. Royal Bank of Scotland will back a six-month refinancing package in the summer but only to push ahead the sale of the club. Yet another investment bank — Barclays Capital — has been appointed to look for buyers. Reports said that it is impressed by, among other things, progress on the construction of a fine new stadium. Really? I think I might buy a lottery ticket next week in the hope of impressing Barclays with my vast wealth.

 

There is no stadium in Stanley Park. Anyone who attended the match against Benfica on Thursday knows that there is not even a single red brick on the site. There is planning permission tucked away in the Anfield vaults; that’s all.

 

So whatever Barclays’ prospective buyers agree to pay — and the weekend talk suddenly restored Liverpool’s worth to the £500 million that the more determined of the Dubai bidders deemed slightly excessive in early 2007 — will have to be topped up with £300 million for a home grand enough to allow the club to compete more fairly with their London and Manchester rivals.

 

Only if the Dubai lot, headed by Sheikh Mohammed, come back on the scene is there likely to be much cause for rejoicing. Liverpool will never be fit for the Champions League again until that stadium is rising in the park and the scale of finance the project requires would appear to rule out inhabitants of the real world, or Merseyside equivalents of the Red Knights (they could be dubbed Crimson Counts).

 

There is, however, an interesting coincidence here. Amanda Staveley, the City high-flier who was said to have received a £20 million fee for arranging Barclays’ bailout by the Abu Dhabi royal family last year, had earlier helped the Dubai bidders for Liverpool and was also involved in the Abu Dhabi takeover of Manchester City. So, if I were a Liverpool fan, I’d be feeling cautiously optimistic.

 

If, on the other hand, my name were Hicks or Gillett, I’d be marvelling at how the system had come to my rescue. What possesses banks to get so heavily involved in football when there is serious and much bigger business out there? I suppose executives find it glamorous and publicity-generating. If only they were using their own money — rather than your savings and mine.

 

Things were so simple in the days before David Moores came to the conclusion that big-time football had outgrown his fortune and sold out. No wonder Uefa realised, however belatedly, that something had to be done about the pressures on ownership.

 

Still at Anfield, though, you can experience unforgettable nights, such as Thursday. It was like a rebirth: ethereal. So dazzling that you floated out and peered through a gap in the fence round the adjacent building-site — just in case the new stadium had suddenly materialised.

Edited April 11, 2010 by StevieH

[StevieH]

Tom Hicks and George Gillett ready to put Liverpool up for sale | Football | The Guardian

 

Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Liverpool's unpopular co-owners, are expected to officially put the club up for sale this week but are unlikely to appease the manager, Rafael Benítez, or supporters opposed to their reign with an imminent departure from Anfield.

 

The Americans have received an option to extend their refinancing deal this summer from the Royal Bank of Scotland, their lenders, in response to the struggle to bring new investment into the club. The pair have hired the mergers and acquisitions arm of Barclays Bank to help find a buyer and are expected to announce the appointment of Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways, as independent chairman early this week.

 

Broughton's task will be to oversee the search for investment and secure the Americans' latest refinancing package at Liverpool in the meantime. Previously, and in a sign of their fractured business relationship, Hicks and Gillett appointed two separate banks, Rothschild and Merrill Lynch, to find an investor but have failed to receive an offer that meets their asking price of around £500m. The only official offer to emerge was The Rhône Group's proposal of £110m for a 40% stake in Liverpool, although its deadline for a response passed last Monday.

 

The appointment of Barclays and Broughton, a Chelsea fan, had raised hope among Liverpool supporters opposed to Hicks and Gillett of their swift exit and much-needed transfer funds for Benítez this summer. However, the absence of any suitable offers has led the co-owners to seek an extension to their refinancing deal and they have made progress with the RBS following talks in London last week.

 

It is understood a condition of RBS's latest refinancing deal – which amounts to a six-month extension – is a commitment from Hicks and Gillett that they intend to relinquish their hold on Liverpool. The Americans are expected to announce they will stand down as co-chairmen this week although, given the extension from the RBS and the bank's insistence that £100m of the club's £237m debt is repaid, their controversial tenure is likely to continue for some time.

 

That could have an impact on Benítez's spending power in the summer, with the prospect of Champions League qualification fading after today's goalless draw at home to Fulham. "I don't have too much information on this at this moment," the Liverpool manager said.There have been reports of a second refinancing offer to Hicks and Gillett, comprising a three-year deal worth £300m from Barclays that would see the bank displace the RBS. Anfield officials have distanced themselves from a refinancing deal with Barclays. However, Hicks and Gillett could explore a deal with Barclays as a fallback option.

[StevieH]

From The Times

April 12, 2010

Hated Liverpool owners off hook after loan extension

Helen Power, Business Correspondent, Tony Barrett

Royal Bank of Scotland has said that it may extend its loans to Liverpool to help the club’s unpopular American owners to sell it.

 

It emerged over the weekend that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have abandoned plans to sell a minority stake to Rhône Capital, an American private-equity firm, instead appointing Barclays Capital to sell the club completely. Hicks and Gillett are expected to end their ill-fated relationship with the Merseyside club within the year.

 

But unless Liverpool can secure a deal with the lenders, the club faces an imminent cash crisis. The club has £237 million of outstanding loans with RBS and Wachovia, the American bank, which expire in July. The Times has learnt that RBS has indicated that it will grant a six-month extension of the loan provided that the American owners can convince the bank’s board by July that they genuinely intend to sell.

 

This is the third time that Hicks and Gillett have put Liverpool up for sale, but the pair have so far failed to find buyers willing to meet their £500 million valuation. It was unclear yesterday whether Wachovia, with whom Liverpool has 25 per cent of the loan, would grant a similar extension.

 

The American bank has taken a much tougher line than RBS and very nearly refused to refinance the club last July when its previous loan expired. The two banks ultimately agreed to grant Liverpool a 12-month extension, but warned Hicks and Gillett that they would not get another refinancing deal unless they reduced Liverpool’s debt by £100 million.

 

The pair began talks with investors about raising the cash in January, but abandoned plans to sell a minority stake after a deal with Rhône Capital fell apart last week. Rhône had offered £100 million for a 40 per cent stake, but Hicks and Gillett, who paid £219 million for the club in 2007, balked at cutting their stakes to 30 per cent each.

 

The Americans appear to have finally accepted that they must sell the club to raise the cash to pay off Liverpool’s banks. State-backed RBS, for whom the club is a political hot potato, is likely to keep the pressure on Hicks and Gillett to sell.

 

Liverpool are set to confirm later this week that they have brought in Martin Broughton, the British Airways chairman, as the club’s new chairman. That appointment is intended to reassure potential buyers and the club’s banks that this latest attempt to sell Liverpool is genuine. Broughton’s appointment, it is understood, is designed to give the club “credibility” with bidders.

 

It is believed that Barclays Capital has already received a number of serious expressions of interest. The Rhône Capital deal would have valued the club at £250 million but independent valuations have put Liverpool’s worth at closer to £300 million.

[Dougie Do'ins]

apologies to Steve for double posting the PA piece

 

 

UPDATE 1-Barclays to oversee sale of Liverpool FC -source

Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:50am EDT

 

 

* Source says re-financing up to new buyer

 

Financials

 

* BA chairman set to join board to oversee sale -report

 

By Steve Slater and Matt Scuffham

 

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. owners of Premier British League Football team Liverpool are looking to sell the club and have appointed Barclays Capital to find a buyer, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

 

American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett are facing a demand to repay 100 million pounds ($153 million) of the club's 237 million pounds debt to its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and U.S. bank Wachovia, in July.

 

That has prompted them to seek a buyer for the club, which has been English champions 18 times and won the European Cup five times.

 

The Sunday Times had reported that Barclays would back a 300 million pounds ($458.8 million) refinancing at Liverpool that would lead to the sale of the Premier League club.

 

The newspaper said the bank is this weekend finalising a deal that will see it replace the club's current lenders, provide more money for manager Rafa Benitez to spend on players and install British Airways (BAY.L) chairman Martin Broughton as chairman.

 

However, the source told Reuters it would be up to the new owner to make a decision over whether to refinance the club's debt. The source also declined to comment on what price the club could be sold for or when a sale is likely to take place.

 

Liverpool Football Club was not immediately available for comment. Barclays Capital declined to comment.

 

The Sunday Times said Barclays, the main sponsor of the Premier League, will replace RBS and Wachovia, and provide the Merseyside club with additional capital.

 

Analysts had suggested Liverpool is worth 500 million pounds but the paper said Barclays is understood to believe it would fetch far more if given time to improve its trading.

 

Benitez was quoted in British media on Sunday as saying Liverpool needed to bring in more players to compete and may even have to sell a few to be able to reinvest.

 

"It doesn't matter if it's four or five or three or five, the cost of a top class player is 15 or 20 million pounds. So with three or four players, you start counting and I think we need up to four new players," he said in The People.

 

"I don't think I will have to sell a big player, but it will depend on the investors so I cannot guarantee we won't have to sell. Our idea is to keep the spine of the team."

 

UPDATE 1-Barclays to oversee sale of Liverpool FC -source | Reuters

Why do I get the feeling we're being conditioned for a big sale.

[redsfan]

So in simple terms what does this all mean? Head hurts

[StevieH]

Very disappointed though not surprised, to see that RBS will be extending the refinancing.

 

I'm gutted.

[Kopite Pete]

What a surprise to see RBS bottle it again, and in six months time it will be another six months.

[coop]

Could it be possible that RBS have said after the 6 months they will call the loan in if they don't sell up.

[JohnnyH]

Not sure how I feel now. If the Yanks were to get an extra 6 months on the guarantee that they sold the club, then maybe that would be acceptable. Of course, the problem is they won’t care who they sell to as it'll just be the highest bidder, so we could actually be stuck with someone even worse (If that was actually possible).

[spider-neil]

bad news that rbs are extending the loan but good news they still own the loans as I think the 100m reduction for refinance still applies which means worst case senario liverpool will have its debt halved and best case entire club sold.

[JohnnyH]

bad news that rbs are extending the loan but good news they still own the loans as I think the 100m reduction for refinance still applies which means worst case senario liverpool will have its debt halved and best case entire club sold.

 

Is the extention not also an extension on the £100m though? They are such schisters that you wouldn't put it past them to promise to sell but actually refuse in 9 months when the time comes. Hicks has history of ignoring bank demands so we'll wait and see.

 

I just get the feeling that the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a train speeding towards us.