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Ex-Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon Said to Be Hired by QSL in Liverpool Bid By Tariq Panja - Aug 19, 2010 9:02 PM GMT Email Share Print Former Chelsea and Manchester United Chief Executive Officer Peter Kenyon is negotiating for QSL Sports Ltd. in its effort to buy 18-time English soccer champion Liverpool, according to three people familiar with the situation. Kenyon, whose teams won five league titles with him in charge, has been in talks with Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital, after they were hired by Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to sell the club in April. Kenyon, 56, wouldn’t have a seat on Liverpool’s board if Hong Kong-based QSL bought the team, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the talks. Kenyon was named CEO at Manchester United in 2000, then joined Chelsea following billionaire Roman Abramovich’s 2003 takeover. He left the West London club last year. Hill & Knowlton, a public relations company hired by QSL co-founder Kenny Huang, declined to comment. Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton said the club doesn’t comment on the sales process. Hicks and Gillett bought the club in February 2007 for 219 million pounds, including debt, or $431.7 million at the exchange rate then. The team’s parent company, Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd., now had has debts of 351 million pounds ($549 million. Prospective investors must prove they’ll pay off the current owners’ 237 million-pound debt with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, fund a new stadium and pay for squad development. RBS Debt The RBS debt matures Oct. 6. If the club isn’t sold by then and the owners can’t get an extension, the U.K. government- controlled bank could take over Liverpool. QSL is among as many as four bidders for the club, including Syrian Yahya Kirdi, who lives in Canada. Liverpool’s board said in an Aug. 13 statement it was reviewing a number of bids and would take its time before recommending one. “The board will continue to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, doing all that it can to ensure that the club is ultimately sold to a buyer who has the resources and real commitment to give it a long term, stable and secure funding position,” the board said in a statement. The people said Kenyon, now a director at management company Creative Artists Agency, has been involved in the talks for months and was hired because of his experience in English soccer. He is charged with determining the feasibility of a bid and to understand the financial structure of Hicks and Gillett’s investment in Liverpool. To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at at tpanja@bloomberg.net From Here Ex-Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon Said to Be Hired by QSL in Liverpool Bid - Bloomberg

OK fair enough. I personally don't think Sky/The Times think this strategically about our ownership situation though. I guess its more a case of journos trying to get the exclusives, following through on leads or reporting them. Certainly the Murdoch empire could "theoretically" benefit from an ownership of LFC by CIC but as I said I don't personally think there's any kind of conspiracy going on.

I don't understand the line of thought here. Why would it make any difference to Sky on who owns LFC?

Bidders not confirmed they have sufficient funds.

Have a number of bids for the club which the board are examining.

No offers for Mascherano. Expecting 1 or 2 more signings.

KOP LOSS SHOCKER Liverfools paying out £10m a month in interest LIVERFOOLS: Gillett and Hicks By Chris Bascombe Follow me on Twitter THE delay in selling Liverpool FC is costing the club's American owners a staggering £2.5million a week. Tom Hicks and George Gillett will see their huge debts increase to £282.4m by August 31 unless they sell the club. That's a shocking rise of £45.4m since their last refinancing deal in April. And that's why the duo are set to walk away with nothing when Chinese businessman Kenny Huang ends their reign. Under the terms of an agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wells Fargo named 'Project Langworth', the owners' are accumulating escalating multi-million pound PIK fees - payments in kind - charged at a daily rate of 9 per cent per year from April 6, 2010. The rates for borrowing money this way are far higher and riskier. Interest isn't paid annually. In this case, repayments are being triggered every fortnight and their weekly interest bill is a staggering £2.5m. PIK fees are at the heart of what made the Glazers' Manchester United takeover so controversial, and explain why Hicks and Gillett are being forced out by the bank. It wasn't publicly known until now that Hicks and Gillett had such an agreement. The refinancing of £110m of the Americans' debts was agreed following the refusal by Hicks and Gillett to sell a 40 per cent stake to New York-based Rhone Group. If the club doesn't change hands by next Sunday, Hicks and Gillett (below) will pay another £7.5m. Their debt will rise by another £7.5m on August 31. On April 5, Kop Holdings owed £237m. On July 31, they owed £266.6m. On August 31, the figure will be £282.4m. Weep A Liverpool spokesman said: "This simply highlights why a sale is in everyone's interest." Liverpool fans can only weep at the thought of how that £45.4m since April could have revamped their squad. The financial implications of Hicks and Gillett refusing to accept their board's decision on who takes over are potentially catastrophic. Despite this, they are privately resisting the £450m buy-out by Huang's QSL group because they won't make a penny on the deal - getting only enough money to clear their debts. "There are people at Liverpool ready for the mother of all battles to get rid of them," a source told Sport of the World. "But this is no false dawn. It's the endgame for Hicks and Gillett now." A spokesman for Huang said: "All Kenny wants to do is close the deal and that's all he will be focused on for the next few days." Huang will immediately pay off the debt. He must then commit £135.9m equity to start work on the Stanley Park stadium, and has promised a minimum £50m initial transfer kitty.

The Daily mail really hate our club don't they... their reports and news are less reliable than tribalfootball and football-rumours websites these days. Shame on you Daily Hatemail

that is brilliant that is

That article lost all credibility for me as soon as I saw Koptalk and "fan website" in the same sentence!

Funny how Purslow waits to July 1st to announce the appointment. Same day that Standard Chartered sponsorship begins. Adverts for Standard Chartered plastered all over the offal Visitor levels go through the roof due to the announcement More eyeballs for Standard Chartered Thanks Cecil for putting sponsorship first and foremost...

ah OK they just changed it as when I read it it said "three month contract"!