Liverpool debt dispute forces Americans to consider sale

[AFII]

Heja Sverige

I can go along with that as long as no Liverpool players play in the national team.

No way!

See above

[Kloppster]

Here's your coat

Ta!:

[Roboklopp]

Please... this is not slagging off spelling. But I'm assuming you mean Sceptics meaning those that are suspicious of something,

because when you say Septics, I just have a vision of swollen pus filled objects -

which of course may be exactly what you meant!



Which reminds me of an old schoolyard joke

What do you call a septic Cat?



...





......


PUSS!

No mate, "septics" is neither a typo nor a misspelling. It's rhyming slang.

Septic Tanks = Yanks.

Sadly, you may have to re-read my post to pick up on the semantics.

[Roboklopp]

Oh and in this case you may infer that I also consider the ****ers puss-filled aye.

[Kloppster]

No mate, "septics" is neither a typo nor a misspelling. It's rhyming slang.

Septic Tanks = Yanks.

Sadly, you may have to re-read my post to pick up on the semantics.

my apologies. I like your analogy even better!

[Vermilion]

Looks as if these guys will get this loan business sorted pretty soon, i fear DIC wont get a look in once that's sorted, H&G seem to think that once they sort it a sense of CALM will once again be returned to Anfield, more like a sense of 'Disilusionment' from what i read on here & elsewhere, a sense that once they get their feet well & truly under LFC's table it will be about what they can get from US, not what they can do for the team. It will be as before, stalemate in the league because we just DONT buy the Torres type players often enough, my god the very TOP managers have cocked up with players that cost over 20million, Rafa gets stick for odd 5mill dud. Most of the time in Footie you get what you pay for as far as quality go's, it's then up to you to to get that quality to perform, stay In form. We don't buy enough from the top table, Chelsea etc get linked with Messi, true or not people dont snipe at the notion of him playing for them, That's where we need to get back to, but under our new owners ???? I really dont see it, i would so love to be proved wrong.

[Skillz]

Looks as if these guys will get this loan business sorted pretty soon, i fear DIC wont get a look in once that's sorted, H&G seem to think that once they sort it a sense of CALM will once again be returned to Anfield, more like a sense of 'Disilusionment' from what i read on here & elsewhere, a sense that once they get their feet well & truly under LFC's table it will be about what they can get from US, not what they can do for the team. It will be as before, stalemate in the league because we just DONT buy the Torres type players often enough, my god the very TOP managers have cocked up with players that cost over 20million, Rafa gets stick for odd 5mill dud. Most of the time in Footie you get what you pay for as far as quality go's, it's then up to you to to get that quality to perform, stay In form. We don't buy enough from the top table, Chelsea etc get linked with Messi, true or not people dont snipe at the notion of him playing for them, That's where we need to get back to, but under our new owners ???? I really dont see it, i would so love to be proved wrong.

I do not agree. The loan is only to start the stadium. If it goes through they will immediately start a search for 3rd investor IMO. If they find one they will use their capital as a deposit on the next loan.

If they cannot find that investor they will have to sell and that is when DIC will be stroking.... sorry striking.

[Vermilion]

I do not agree. The loan is only to start the stadium. If it goes through they will immediately start a search for 3rd investor IMO. If they find one they will use their capital as a deposit on the next loan.

If they cannot find that investor they will have to sell and that is when DIC will be stroking.... sorry striking.

Hope you right. I'll enjoy being wrong for years if they really were forced to sell, but i fear they'll hang on to us with their finger nails unless someone gives them a HUGE HUGE profit to go. I dont think DIC will be doing that.

[Neil Young]

Is Gillett looking for a way out? Will Hicks take over? Are DIC waiting in the wings?

Find out next week in 'Soap'!

[Vermilion]

Is Gillett looking for a way out? Will Hicks take over? Are DIC waiting in the wings?

Find out next week in 'Soap'!

[Neil Young]

Precisely.

[Chris]

read the echo!!!!!! YESSSSS!!!! PLEASE

[kopash]

Dubai to make Liverpool FC bid
Jan 17 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

DUBAI International Capital is ready to make an offer for Tom Hicks’s stake in Liverpool FC.

The ECHO understands senior executives at the Dubai-based international investment company were given the go-ahead by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum to launch a second bid to buy into Liverpool in a year.

An offer has been agreed in principle.

A source close to DIC today told the ECHO the bid would be for a half share in the club with the Arab consortium willing to enter into a dual ownership deal with George Gillett.

He said: “It is a very delicate situation but DIC has reignited its interest in Liverpool Football Club.

“The terms of the offer, which will be made to Tom Hicks, have been agreed and DIC are hopeful they will be finally be able to invest in Liverpool.

“The offer is now being written up and it should be only a matter of time before it is delivered to Hicks.”

Co-owners Hicks and Gillett are edging closer to clinching a refinancing deal.

But DIC are hoping to make a move before any deal is completed.

Hicks and Gillet enjoyed a honeymoon period after their acquisition of the Reds.

But recent revelations they talked to Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of replacing the hugely popular Rafa Benitez as manager have led to them falling out of favour with the Liverpool fans.

While the financial restructuring deal, which would give them the necessary collateral to fund the building of the long-awaited new stadium, remains incomplete, DIC believe a window of opportunity still remains open to them.

Whether Hicks is willing to sell is another matter entirely.

The Dallas-based multi-millionaire is on record saying he is not interested in selling his stake, even though there are tensions between himself and Gillett about the proposed refinancing deal.

In a recent interview with the ECHO Hicks said: “I just want to clear up with you that I am not selling any of my shares to anybody.

“I have no idea why anyone would think that. It was just rubbish.”

But with Sheikh Mohammed, one of the world’s richest men, now back on the scene Hicks looks likely to face some tough decisions in the days to come.

On the one hand a deal with DIC could present him with a sizeable return on his initial investment and an opportunity to walk away from the dual problems of securing the necessary loans to service their own debt, fund the new stadium and winning the fans over all over again.

But, on the other, there may be a reluctance to part with an asset which he fought so hard to acquire, one which he firmly believes can pay dividends in the long term.

Hicks insists financial restructuring could be complete within days, and if he is proven right it will make an immediate offer from DIC less likely.

The American pair have six weeks to secure a £350m loan that would refinance their original purchase of the club.

Hicks recently told the ECHO he hopes a deal can be signed off with the Royal Bank of Scotland and the US investment bank Wachovia by the middle of next week.

If, as expected, DIC follow up their interest with a firm bid the ownership of Liverpool FC could change for the second time in a year.

Club officials said today: “We do not comment on speculation.”

[kopash]

Anfield fans in fear as Liverpool's future is on knife edge
Jan 17 2008 by John Thompson, Liverpool Echo

DURING an exhaustive search for investment in Liverpool Football Club Reds chief executive Rick Parry spoke of the need for any deal to be absolutely right.

“You can only sell the family silver once,” he famously remarked.

Today Liverpool are facing up to the previously unimaginable possibility of half of the family silver being sold for the second time in less than a year – if Tom Hicks is willing to sell.

DIC loom large on the Anfield horizon again.

After missing out to Hicks and George Gillett last time around Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum is understood to be ready to do everything in his power to ensure it does not happen again.

But despite being one of the richest men in the world Sheikh Mohammed does not use his immense wealth to pay over the odds for any business.

When he was beaten to the punch by Hicks and Gillett last February one of his most trusted aides told the world bluntly “we won’t overpay for assets”.

So, if a deal is to be struck, it must suit all parties.

DIC chief executive and self-confessed Liverpool fan Sameer Al Ansari intimated the investment vehicle’s interest in the club ended when Hicks and Gillett took control.

But in reality their interest has never really gone away.

In the autumn they entered into talks with Hicks and Gillett with a view to snapping up a minority share of between 10-20% - only for any potential deal to founder on the Americans’ £1bn valuation of the club.

Now they are looking at setting up a deal in which they would buy, at the very least, a 50% share in Liverpool.

A firm bid could be forthcoming within days.

It is undoubtedly decision time for Hicks and Gillett who thought they had seen off DIC’s interest once and for all when they paid £218.9m for Liverpool last February.

But since then plans to refinance their initial purchase and pay for the long-awaited new Anfield with a new loan running into hundreds of millions of pounds have been slowed down by the American credit crunch making borrowing money much more difficult than it was 12 months ago.

There has also been a reticence from honorary life president and former chairman David Moores and Parry to sign up to a refinancing package which will plunge the club into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt.

As progress has stalled DIC has stepped up its long-standing interest and it is now ready to pounce.

Their desire is understood to have been fuelled by speculation Moores is becoming increasingly minded he should have gone with DIC rather than Hicks and Gillett when both parties put forward rival bids last year.

The fact Liverpool fans displayed their displeasure with the way the club is being run by the American pair at Anfield on Tuesday night did not go unnoticed in Dubai.

Banners unfurled on the Kop during the FA Cup tie against Luton Town sent an SOS to DIC and there were several negative chants directed at Hicks and Gillett.

It could be that, like his fellow countryman, Man United owner Malcolm Glazer, Hicks is prepared to ride out any storm of controversy whipped up by unsettled fans.

But as a businessman of international repute, he will also be aware such naked negativity from his customers is not sustainable in the long term.

Liverpool’s very future is today on a knife edge.

The family silver could be up for grabs again.

Although it is still too early to tell whether it will eventually change hands, DIC are certainly ready to test the water.

Aims and assets of DIC

DUBAI International Capital (DIC) was established in October 2004 as the international investment arm of Dubai Holding.

The purpose of DIC is to create a return for its shareholder Dubai Holding and its ultimate shareholders, the ruling family of the Emirate of Dubai.

Its assets and investments include:

Travelodge – the UK budget hotel group was purchased in 2006 for £675m.

Mauser Group – the German industrial packaging company – one of the world’s leaders in its field – bought in June last year for 850m Euros.

A 3% stake in Sony acquired for $1.5bn.

A substantial stake in HSBC.

A 2% stake in German carmaker Daimler. which cost $1bn

A $1.25bn stake in the New York hedge fund Och-Ziff.

[kopash]

I actually quite like George Gillette. He seems to understand our club. I'm starting to really detest Hicks.