DIC have pulled out

[anfieldanfield]

I think this is the worst thing to happen. the board are greedy ****ers and dont want the best for the club just want money

Show a bit of respect to Moores.

[Parm]

Interesting Gillett Article

I dont know too much about the guy but this article from the Beeb does give him a chance. Also, not sure how he can complete the due dilligence in 3 days and it takes the DIC a month or so.

Be interesting to see how Parry spins the Gillet deal to us.






Dubai or not to buy?
Premiership | Liverpool
by Phil McNulty - BBC Sport 31 January 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dubai International Capital's decision to walk away from its proposed takeover of Liverpool is the end of a love affair that grew cold with astonishing speed.

It was only a fortnight ago that Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry was in bullish mood about the arrival at the Shankly Gates of the investment arm of the Dubai government.

He told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek: "A huge amount of work has been going on, we'll have something to say soon.

"Yes, the deal is looking positive and yes, I'm confident it will go through. This will take us to the next level.

"But it's not a quick fix, a rich man's plaything. It's a long-term model for success, based around the new stadium."

Not any more it isn't.

It appears hesitation on the part of the Liverpool board, led by chairman David Moores, to formally accept DIC's bid in the wake of a second offer from American George Gillett has killed the deal stone dead.

This was meant to be the dream scenario for Liverpool. The deal that would see the Sheikhs of Dubai lavishing riches on Anfield that would put them alongside Chelsea.

It was never going to be work of a maverick benefactor on a Roman Abramovich scale, DIC is too shrewd and businesslike for that, but it seemed a perfect fit.

Now it appears that, as far as Moores and Parry are concerned, Gillett is the best a man can get.

Gillett may prove a palatable alternative - and do not rule out interest from other parties waiting in the wings as DIC pulled out.

DIC was welcomed with open arms by both Liverpool Football Club and their fans.

Serious people with serious investment and serious lovers of sport. There was even talk of some of the DIC hierarchy having Liverpool screen-savers on their mobile phones.

Boyhood fans and all that.

But it is clear this trail has been going cold over the last few days as the shadow of Gillett, owner of Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, suddenly re-emerged.

Gillett appeared to have been seen off by DIC, and initial suggestions that Liverpool may take his renewed takeover bid seriously were swiftly sidelined by sources within Anfield.

But Gillett has made crucial moves in the last week that forced Liverpool to reconsider him as a serious proposition.

He completed his due diligence programme within three days - after DIC had taken the best part of a month over the same process.

He happily agreed to personally underwrite the potential £200m-plus cost of a new stadium without hesitation.

Was DIC reluctant to underwrite in such a fashion? If it was, it may have suggested to Liverpool a slight dent in their enthusiasm.

He delivered guarantees on future transfer funds.

And, crucially, Gillett was able to reject what some previously saw as a key plank of his proposal - namely a groundshare with neighbours Everton.

Liverpool chairman Moores, who owns 51.6% of the club, would get £8m more from the Gillett deal, but it would be unfair to suggest this would sway a deal.

Moores has never been motivated by personal gain from Liverpool - which suggests he was having serious reservations about choosing DIC ahead of Gillett over and above financial considerations.

I understand Moores has recently come under pressure from minor shareholders to consider Gillett's offer, which is worth £500 a share more than DIC's.

Now DIC have made that decision for him and only time will tell if Moores' hesitation to rubber-stamp a deal at a London Docklands hotel on Tuesday will be fatal.

Gillett covers many bases for Liverpool.

He is rich. He is a sports lover.

But Liverpool have trumpeted the merits of the DIC proposal so loudly, it will be interested to see how they pitch Gillett as the new dream ticket.

One thing is certain. Any deal must be done quickly and DIC's withdrawal has hardly accelerated the process.

Building work on Liverpool's new stadium is scheduled to start in March - and finance from a new owner is at the very heart of the foundations.

Liverpool cannot delay further. And Gillett is now in pole position to exploit DIC's withdrawal.

[kopdan]

But in what way? Financially for the shareholders? i hope this is not their only motivation

nah

cant see it. Sure they may get more money but Parry and Moores are not fools. They have peddled the same story since day one. Only the right deal would win. They'd look tools if DIC outed them. For me, its possible Gillette has offered the best package on and off the pitch.

[Dhav]

I think this is the worst thing to happen. the board are greedy ****ers and dont want the best for the club just want money

I guess we'll find out depending what happens with this Gillette bid. As I said, I hope they dont accept simply because it is more than what Dic bid and because it is now the only deal on the table.

[kemm1]

could it just be a simple

Gillette is a better deal than DIC?

no...shock...horror

Yeah Mr Groundshare suddenly changed his mind. Say whatever the fcuk you want kopdan, this will prove to be a disaster

[kopdan]

cheers Kemm

I will

[kemm1]

FLMAO. Is this a wind up?

No

[ineednewfootwear]

I wonder if he's got a little bimbo wife who will be our new owner when he drops dead.

Its like feckin Dream Team

LOL!! if she's anything like georgia zaris (?) then i wouldn't mind seeing her around the club. remember the commotion when karen brady got the birmingham job? you don't hear anything about that anymore.

getting back to the subject at hand, i was intially drawn to the DIC group over gillett because of their responsibilities to their own citizens. as the investment group for the emirates, they are charged with ensuring their country has viable sources of income when oil deposits start to dwindle. this motivation told me at the time that they would be good owners because a successful club brings monetary rewards and given their vision (new stadium, signings, CL every year, etc) it would be very possible. gillett on the other hand is personally motivated and probably see's what glazer and lerner have done and wants a piece of the pie. add to that the lack of success the canadiens have had in the NHL and i was leaning very much to DIC side.

i still need to be convinced about GG but for all you yank bashers who aren't completely ignorant i can tell you this, just because we call it soccer doesn't mean we don't know the game. there is a big push on this side of the water to get involved, to tap into the global market and push football in the US with the eventual hope of striking up feeder club deals and increasing it's exposure here to the point that kids choose soccer over baseball and football in college. in the long term, they want the US to win the world cup and taking over clubs like man utd, villa and now potentially liverpool are the first steps to achieving this.

one thing to note: if anyone knows marketing and how to capitalize on brand recognition it's the americans. you can bet your bottom dollar that something like a CL win would be maximized to full effect.

not sure if this makes sense altogether, there's a few different thoughts mixed in but i've just come back from a liquid lunch with some clients (who interestingly enough were speaking about this when i sat down with them).

[Mattshark]

Yeah Mr Groundshare suddenly changed his mind. Say whatever the fcuk you want kopdan, this will prove to be a disaster

FFS, don't be ridiculous.#

Do you want your noose now?

[redlancer]

Bluffs and counter bluffs ... It's business law ... I can't see the club going with Gillett now, as it smacks of desperate measures.

Who knows anyway.

AK said deal was dead and buried and as i said before he said he'd heard that a week ago, due to DIC going to sell us off once profitable.
Maybe Moores and co lost trust in them to do the right thing.

Apart from the stadium how much money do we need considering the big windfall next year.

Most of us think we're only a couple of players off the team needed and with Rafa bringing in a lot of cheap buy's maybe the board knew there wouldn't be a bottomless pit taking us over.

[Guest]

AK said deal was dead and buried and as i said before he said he'd heard that a week ago, due to DIC going to sell us off once profitable.
Maybe Moores and co lost trust in them to do the right thing.

Apart from the stadium how much money do we need considering the big windfall next year.

Most of us think we're only a couple of players off the team needed and with Rafa bringing in a lot of cheap buy's maybe the board knew there wouldn't be a bottomless pit taking us over.

Who's AK ?

[redlancer]

Who's AK ?

Alan Kennedy

[Redlife]

13 pages.... maybe this has been answered already....




Have the board formally explained why they couldn't recommend the deal to the shareholders?

[Mumsafan]

Who's AK ?

Alan Kennedy?

[Mumsafan]

13 pages.... maybe this has been answered already....




Have the board formally explained why they couldn't recommend the deal to the shareholders?

Of course not. This is LFC - you're expecting a bit much aren't you?