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Gillette bankrupted?

Nathanzx

By Nathanzx,
in FF - Football Forum

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Nathanzx Enthusiast

Nathanzx

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Bamba has just posted on Rawk that the rocket was launched and landed a direct hit on gillette, he is now out of the picture, a previous refinancing declared that one owner had the right to buy out the other if one of them couldn't pay their debts - hence hicks desperately running around trying to get big cash fast...which bamba says is unlikely and could be construed as trying to get a buyer to come forward...also hints that the board are keeping schtum for legal reasons and are quietly confident..at last a ray of light and a bit of good news, although don't know how solid the info is and maybe hicks still will be bailed out by his blackstone buddy

 

heaven knows what the man in the sand makes of it all

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Section_31 Grand Master

Section_31

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Here's his post, I'm not down with the kids - is he reliable?

 

I haven’t posted on the takeover for some time, and for a variety of reasons - chief of which was a growing feeling that the information provided was actually helping Hicks and Gillett work out where the threat was coming from and concentrate their efforts on digging the dirt and launching a fightback. But today has been a woeful end to a depressing week and amid all the gloom I feel that people should know that all is not lost. Nonetheless, I won’t believe Hicks and Gillett have gone until their names no longer feature in our club profiles, so I’ll keep this as informative as possible without being specific. As ever, take it at face value or bin it. And as has always been the intention, I’ll spill the beans, fully, when it’s safe to do so.

 

Firstly, huge respect and support to the groups and individuals who continue to fight the good fight. There is no doubt that the campaigns work, and we should continue to keep on with the emails, petitions, adverts, T-shirts and all other forms of protest and direct action until Hicks and Gillett are gone.

 

But in no particular order, here are some things that are still worth knowing. The Rocket was launched. It scored a direct hit. Most of the regular posters on this forum are decent and humane people who take little pleasure in the suffering of others. Knowing that George Gillett has retreated to his mountain hideaway, shell-shocked, punch-drunk and waving the white flag will no doubt distress the many who have come to view this jovial old devil as one of our own.

 

Hicks and Gillett entered into a “Joint & Several” arrangement when they re-financed the time before last. That means they’re responsible for one another’s LFC obligations if one or the other defaults. As a result of the direct hit, George Gillett has been bankrupted and stands no chance of paying his share of the RBS debt by 6th October. Tom Hicks is now legally obligated to pay Gillett’s 50% of the debt. So the obvious danger arising from Gillett’s demise is that if any financial institution were insane enough to lend Tom Hicks the money, he now has the right to buy out Gillett’s 50% of the club.

 

That’s scary. But a more agreeable way of looking at it is to imagine Hicks and Gillett handcuffing themselves to each other on that fateful day they entered into that Joint & Several pact. Gillett has now given up; he’s jumped off the pier. A horrified Tom Hicks realises he’s still cuffed to him. He clings on by his fingertips as his former partner sinks, his dead weight dragging Hicks closer and closer to the edge. Hicks, wild-eyed, is pleading to the merchant seamen who pass by, begging them to grab his hand and haul him back from the brink. One or two of them come over for a look, but recognise Hicks as the man who killed their trade in Brazil, or Texas… it’s just not worth them getting involved with a man like this. He’ll always shaft you in the end, so they turn a deaf ear to his pleas for one last chance. If Hicks can’t get someone to throw him a lifeline, he’s going down with Gillett, and soon.

 

Just as Kirdi was in all likelihood a stooge created by Gillett, for the precise purpose of wheeling him out as a stalking horse whenever an offer came in for the club, it’s equally likely that the Blackstone bombshell is Hicks’s last gamble; an empty bluff from a poker player who doesn’t have a hand. But from the RBS’s and from a legal point of view, it’s still complicated. Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre are not the enemy. They are carefully and skilfully navigating a path through a minefield, keeping a keen eye on what needs to happen (Gillett and Hicks out) and the strict legalities and procedures for bringing that about. To give just one blunt example, a recent report about Hicks’ refinancing fiasco stated that Martin Broughton is “open minded” about the prospect of Hicks staying on. He can hardly state otherwise, can he? Any suggestion, let alone confirmation that Broughton was not acting in the best interests of the owners would only lead to another hiatus as Hicks stalls and sues and refuses to go. Equally, the supposed Purslow Smirk after today’s game is much more likely to be “if only I could tell you…” rather than “why should I care”. The U.K-based element of the board have gone through a lengthy and diligent legal process to ascertain what they can lawfully do to prevent Gillett and Hicks from re-financing. They’re hardly going to blow it now by playing to the crowd.

 

Me neither. That’s all for now. Go to bed knowing that it’s not over yet. But neither is it Over.

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Joe Le Taxi Veteran

Joe Le Taxi

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The Associated Press: Hicks looks to private equity to keep Liverpool

 

LONDON — Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is launching another bid to keep hold of the Premier League club by securing financing from a private equity company which would share control with him.

 

Hicks along with co-owner George Gillett Jr. had put the club up for sale in April, saying they lacked the funding to take Liverpool forward, on and off the pitch, due to its debt of 237 million pounds ($370 million).

 

But the lack of formal offers for the 18-time English champions has led to the Texan putting together his own financing deal, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

 

GSO Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Blackstone, has offered Hicks a two-year funding package worth around 280 million ($437 million) pounds ahead of the October deadline facing the owners to repay the club's debt to Royal Bank of Scotland.

 

Blackstone, which would then have shared control of the club in return for its investment, was not immediately available for comment.

 

Blackstone's funding would give Hicks until 2012 to sell Liverpool and find an investor to match his valuation of around 600 million pounds and make a significant return on the 218.9 million pounds (then $431 million) the Americans paid for the club in 2007.

 

Hicks hopes the funding would allow him to take full control, pay down the debt significantly and provide funds for players. It would also see Gillett's 50 percent stake diluted, with the Colorado-native staying at Liverpool in what the person described as an "inactive" role.

 

Liverpool's debt was placed in RBS's Global Restructuring Group section, which is dedicated to distressed assets.

 

A first attempt by Hicks to refinance the debt was rejected earlier this year by the Liverpool board to allow Barclays Capital bank to continue the search for a buyer.

 

But Gillett and Hicks could again be outvoted by managing director Christian Purslow, finance director Philip Nash and commercial director Ian Ayre on the board.

 

A global cast of purported investors have come forward claiming to be the solution to Liverpool's financial predicament, but the owners have yet to find an acceptable buyer.

 

A 500 million pound (then $993 million) bid from Dubai International Capital was rejected in 2008. At that time, Hicks tried to buy Gillett's 50 percent stake.

 

Last year, Gillett sold the Montreal Canadiens, the Gillett Entertainment Group and the Bell Centre back to the Molson family for $580 million.

 

Hicks' baseball team, the Texas Rangers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May and was bought in August by team president Nolan Ryan and sports attorney Chuck Greenberg at auction for $590 million.

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Joe Le Taxi Veteran

Joe Le Taxi

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Every thread on the offal forum was dedicated to a boycott, something like 7 or 8 pages worth of threads.

 

Looks like they've been in and cleaned it all up though.

 

Haha the mods on there are awful. I was threatened in an email with legal action before. The exact words were "You may have proof for your assertions but whether this proof would stand the test of examination in a Court is another matter."

 

I feel for Matt though, because he works for the club he gets portrayed as the bad guy when he is only trying to do his job.

 

However Sojik who is a mod on there and is Pro-Hicks has been accused of deleting threads which put his mate Tom in a bad light...

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Allan Grand Master

Allan

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Haha the mods on there are awful. I was threatened in an email with legal action before. The exact words were "You may have proof for your assertions but whether this proof would stand the test of examination in a Court is another matter."

 

I feel for Matt though, because he works for the club he gets portrayed as the bad guy when he is only trying to do his job.

 

However Sojik who is a mod on there and is Pro-Hicks has been accused of deleting threads which put his mate Tom in a bad light...

 

There were some other threads started as well, titles with sexual references that would put most porn sites to shame. They too have been removed, unsurprisingly.

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Joe Le Taxi Veteran

Joe Le Taxi

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There were some other threads started as well, titles with sexual references that would put most porn sites to shame. They too have been removed, unsurprisingly.

 

Hahaha. I'm reading through a few threads, seems like the people with EST's are starting to rebel. A lot have cancelled while others are helping the boycott and convincing younger fans to act.

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shaunstrudwick Proficient

shaunstrudwick

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re: these Blackstone guys - are they providing additional investment or just lending Hicks the money to buy out Gillette?

 

some money to pay down RBS debt and keep RBS sweet and some left over for work to begin on buying new players / stadium is not a completely horrible situation

 

well it is - but better than where we are now

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