DIC have pulled out

[kopdan]

Just seen a report that DIC are considering the take over of Newcastle United.

fans of LFC eh

[friedk]

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

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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.

[slimbimjim]

But you'll happily hand it over to a twice bankrupt American meatseller ?

Bankruptcy isn't frowned upon in American Corporate culture.

Better to get well earned money than corrupt OPEC money used to fund Wahhabi Jihad schools. Don't think for a second they are really interested in Liverpool for what it is. More hooks into Western Culture, ready to pull it all down.

Enough ranting, what happened to Kraft?

[nebbers]

Interesting Telegraph Article by David Bond

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HP5F50PUSGTT3QFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/sport/2007/02/01/sfnli201.xml

Breakdown of trust caused shock collapse of Dubai deal


Even for a club whose recent history is littered with failed takeover attempts, yesterday's developments at Liverpool were quite staggering.

Dubai International Capital's decision to pull the plug on their £450 million deal to buy the club after months of careful negotiations was a shock that caught Anfield completely off guard.

Astonishingly, the announcement came just seven weeks after Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry stated boldly: "We are all very excited about the long-term future of the club and hope we have found an ideal partner."

What changed in the weeks that followed Parry's comments was a breakdown in trust between the two sides as the formal procedure of firming up the DIC bid stalled.

advertisemen****ching events unfold from across the Atlantic was the American sports tycoon George Gillett Jnr, who had been snubbed by Parry and Liverpool chairman David Moores in December, when they opted for the offer from the Makhtoum ruling family.

And as doubts grew in the Anfield boardroom over DIC's plans for the club and a series of postponed announcements, Gillett got an attractive counter-bid ready.

That offer landed on David Moores' desk nine days ago and led to a dramatic re-think. Gillett had offered £170 million for the shares in the club, beating DIC's bid by 10 per cent, or about £15 million.

Although Moores is the club's major shareholder with a stake of 51.6 per cent, other smaller shareholders, such as ITV, who own almost 10 per cent, and millionaire Steve Morgan, who owns three per cent, impressed upon him the need to take Gillett's revised bid seriously.

But even then Liverpool and DIC were confident of closing the deal. Gillett's offer might have been worth more to the shareholders, but concerns remained over his plans for funding the move to a new, 60,000-capacity stadium at Stanley Park.

However, Gillett, the former owner of the Miami Dolphins and now owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, moved to calm those concerns, saying he had ditched plans to press for a ground-share with Everton. He also reassured the Liverpool board that he would provide a funding package for the £215 million project, scheduled to start next month.

Gillett also impressed Liverpool with the way he completed due diligence once DIC's exclusive period of access to the accounts expired two weeks ago.

His financial advisers, Rothschild, moved swiftly once permission was granted and with due diligence complete, it is thought a formal offer for the club is imminent.

DIC's statement last night, which included comments from their chief executive, Sameer Al Ansari, only hints at the anger felt in Dubai at the extraordinary turn of events at Liverpool.

One source close to the deal said: "It has been an absolute shambles. Over the last few days it has been impossible to get a sensible answer out of them as to what's going on. The way DIC have been treated is staggering and to say they are unhappy would be way more than an understatement."

The turning point in the negotiations with DIC came with the outcome of Tuesday's meeting of Liverpool's board in a Docklands hotel in London. With the clock ticking on the need to start funding the new ground, Parry, Moores and other directors decided to hold a special meeting in the capital ahead of the 2-1 Premiership triumph over West Ham at Upton Park.
DIC expected the meeting to be a rubber-stamping exercise ahead of a formal announcement on Monday, following the game against Everton on Saturday. As far as DIC were concerned, the deal would be approved with Moores agreeing to irrevocably sell his shares.

What they didn't know was that the board meeting had been called to seriously consider whether to change horses and instead give more serious consideration to Gillett's revised offer. The first DIC knew about the reason for the meeting was when The Daily Telegraph called the company's financial PR advisers, Brunswick, to ask for a comment on the latest twist in the story.

Once it became clear the meeting had not recommended their bid, as expected, DIC executives tried to clarify the position with Moores and Parry. But sources claim they could not get a straight answer.


Their frustrations grew even more acute when Rabih Khouri, who was leading the DIC negotiations on behalf of Al Ansari, failed to pin down Moores and Parry despite travelling to see them in person at the game against West Ham at Upton Park.

The failure to get a satisfactory response led them to angrily withdraw their bid.

Liverpool dismiss DIC's version of events, saying the board had grown frustrated at the time it was taking them to complete due diligence and table their formal bid. There were also serious concerns raised after a DIC business plan detailing how they might look to offload the club after seven years was leaked to The Daily Telegraph just after Christmas.

"It was becoming clear that maybe DIC weren't the partners we were looking for," said a Liverpool insider.

They had better hope the 70-year-old Gillett turns out to be the real deal instead. Having seen bids from Morgan and the now exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra collapse in the last three years, this is a gamble the club cannot afford to lose.

[Icon]

Do Gates / Branson like football?

[Pacman]

I still think that's bluff mate. They wouldn't spend one and a half month doing their due diligence then pull the plug when the club is considering another bid. We'll just have to wait and see.

Once they have pulled out they can't go back in for another 6 months so the deal is dead.

[cadmium]

The Gillette deal MUST go through simple as that.

If that collapses as well, where is that going to leave us with regards to the new stadium, where will the money come from for that?

I seriously hope that the board have made the right decision in allowing DIC to oull out like this

[friedk]

With construction due to take place in March, we need to do a deal or we are ****ed.

[marcus50bucks]

Once they have pulled out they can't go back in for another 6 months so the deal is dead.

Just read this myslef. I think we should now forget about any chances of D.I.C coming back into the frame.

[Guest]

The Gillette deal MUST go through simple as that.

If that collapses as well, where is that going to leave us with regards to the new stadium, where will the money come from for that?

I seriously hope that the board have made the right decision in allowing DIC to oull out like this

It's the only bidder left so it has to be him now, for good and for worse. Else we'll be contemplating going full circle once again.

[Resu]

Strange rule.
Why can`t they come back with a new offer?

[cadmium]

What I'd like to know is why Parry and Moores were saying that the deal was best for the club, and would secure our future, and then Gillette comes back in with a bigger offer and suddenly the DIC deal is in doubt and then it falls through.

If the DIC deal was best for the club then why didn't the board say no to Gillette as they had already made an agreement with DIC. For me the £ signs flashed up in Moores eyes and he's put any potential deal at risk.

I just hope the GIllette offer goes through, but I'll believe it when I see it!

[Guest]

With construction due to take place in March, we need to do a deal or we are ****ed.

Now Gillett's PR machine must do it's work to convince the fans that this deal is the real deal.

[PerUlv]

The one think that is a fact is that our dept will rise and if we dont produce on the pitch I see another Leeds story....

[marcus50bucks]

Strange rule.
Why can`t they come back with a new offer?

This should explain why - http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...name_page.html