Dubai International to make bid for Liverpool FC

[Craig_H]

He own's the club he can do what he wants, if he doesn't want to sell he wont.

I still think he'll end up deciding to get out with a tidy profit.

[baz87]

Well, they'd better not leave it to long because the owners are about to push through their side of the deal and if that happens I think they'll be here for the forseeable future and DIC could potentially walk away for good.

If it's not done this week then I think it might never be.

DIC said they were walking away after they missed out last time, they've since came back for the 15% in November and are back again.

Im pretty confident that it will happen one way or another its just now or in 6 months or so.

If the refinance goes ahead we're going to have interest repayments of ~£30m a year add another £15m repayments which will mean the yanks will have to find around £45m a year just to service the loan and that'll have to come from there own pockets as untill the ground is ready the club won't make more than £10m a year profit and if they don't cover the loan then they lose the club and DIC or whoever can take us for next to nothing. You then have to remember that the club are going to have to borrow another chunk of money to build the stadium which will mean more interest and repayments that they're going to have to find untill the ground is ready.

Basically the yanks are going to have to subsidize the club for the next few years possibly costing them £200m+ and i can't see them doing that.

[Morph]

I still think he'll end up deciding to get out with a tidy profit.

he'd be an idiot not to at this stage

[carlton]

I would be surprised to see a new stadium anytime soon, even though G&H need to build it. I cant see the banks stumping up another 300 million plus without a large cash input from the owners.

Hate to say it but I just dont see it right now.

Same. I cannot see a sod of turf being turned over for a long long time if ever under these 2. That would be half bearable if they put money into the team but they are not going to do that either and they will more likely than sack Rafa and destroy the what he has been building for the last few years. Heartbreaking stuff.

[baz87]

Anfield owners holding out for a windfall


· Hicks denies intent to sell as brinkmanship goes on
· £350m offer from DIC may see club change hands

Andy Hunter
Monday January 21, 2008
The Guardian


Tom Hicks last night insisted he would not sell his 50% stake in Liverpool, as a game of brinkmanship developed between the club's American owners and Dubai International Capital, the corporation which would usurp them.
DIC, the investment arm of the Dubai government, is prepared to lodge a formal takeover bid for Liverpool this week having come to doubt the reported determination of George Gillett, Hicks's co-chairman at Anfield, to oust his business partner from the club after 11 troubled months in charge. But the company is adamant it will not pay an inflated price for a club who may be saddled with major debt in the coming days and who still require significant investment for a new stadium.


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For their part, and despite frequent public denials, Hicks and Gillett are understood to be receptive to DIC's interest in the entire company, but only for a price that would give them a huge profit on their initial £218.9m investment. It is believed DIC inquired informally whether a £300m bid might be acceptable approximately 10 days ago and were told the Americans were seeking a far greater return. DIC's formal bid for Liverpool would have to be in the region of £350m.
The Dubai company had proposed giving Gillett the financial backing he needs to purchase Hicks's stake in the club, Gillett having been enraged by his co-chairman's admission that they approached Jürgen Klinsmann about Rafael Benítez's job and by the amount of debt the Texan wants to put on to the club's books. But Gillett has not turned his doubts into a direct challenge to Hicks and is close to agreeing to a £350m loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland and US-bank Wachovia. That would allow the Americans to refinance their original purchase of Liverpool last February, repay loans acquired to buy players in the summer and commence work on a 70,000-seat stadium. That in turn, the Americans believe, would allow them to name a higher price for Liverpool, although DIC doubts whether they can afford the £30m-a-year interest repayments and believes they will have to sell at a later date to avoid financial meltdown.

Until DIC raises its offer or the Americans lower theirs, the stand-off and the instability surrounding Liverpool will continue, though Hicks last night angrily denied reports that a deal to sell the club had already been struck.

"A report issued today claiming that the Liverpool Football Club has been sold to DIC is a complete fabrication," said Hicks in a statement. "I have not received any offer to purchase the club from the DIC or anyone else, much less accepted any such offer. Nor do I have any intention of doing so. The facts are that I and my family have always been, and remain, fully committed to co-owning the club; that no one in my family has ever indicated any intention or desire to sell our stake in the club; and that we expect and intend to be co-owners of the club and to actively and enthusiastically support the club's manager, players and fans for many years to come."

It is a turbulent background against which Liverpool face Aston Villa at Anfield tonight needing a win to break back into the top four, having been overtaken by Everton and Manchester City yesterday.

"Villa are closer to us now, as are Everton and Manchester City, so we know we cannot make any mistakes," said Benítez.



The bit in bold basically saying what i said a couple of post above.

[Jimthered]

DIC is understood to have proposed a sum of around £300m to Hicks and Gillett, but that has been rejected and there is increasing frustration in Dubai over Hicks' increasingly outlandish demands.

You hate to admit it but he is probably a master at this , he holds all the cards and is testing DIC to see how much they will pay. Wouldnt be surprised to see a "5% of proifts for the next 10 years " clause in any talks.

[carlton]

DIC said they were walking away after they missed out last time, they've since came back for the 15% in November and are back again.

Im pretty confident that it will happen one way or another its just now or in 6 months or so.

If the refinance goes ahead we're going to have interest repayments of ~£30m a year add another £15m repayments which will mean the yanks will have to find around £45m a year just to service the loan and that'll have to come from there own pockets as untill the ground is ready the club won't make more than £10m a year profit and if they don't cover the loan then they lose the club and DIC or whoever can take us for next to nothing. You then have to remember that the club are going to have to borrow another chunk of money to build the stadium which will mean more interest and repayments that they're going to have to find untill the ground is ready.

Basically the yanks are going to have to subsidize the club for the next few years possibly costing them £200m+ and i can't see them doing that.

Ummm the yanks dont have to find anything if the debt is on the club. If the club misses an interest payment its not the yanks assets that will get seized.

[baz87]

Ummm the yanks dont have to find anything if the debt is on the club. If the club misses an interest payment its not the yanks assets that will get seized.

The club can't afford to make these repayments on its own and like you say the bank will seize the club if we don't. If the banks do that then the yanks walk away with a small loss as they're going to have to find an amount of there own cash or personal secured loans before the banks will give them the rest of the money. But even if they don't care about the few £m they will lose, they may care about the £100m profit selling the club would make them.

Basically if they dont pay they'll lose the club and will lose the chance of making £100m's from a future sale or even a sale now.

[carlton]

For their part, and despite frequent public denials, Hicks and Gillett are understood to be receptive to DIC's interest in the entire company, but only for a price that would give them a huge profit on their initial £218.9m investment. It is believed DIC inquired informally whether a £300m bid might be acceptable approximately 10 days ago and were told the Americans were seeking a far greater return. DIC's formal bid for Liverpool would have to be in the region of £350m.

Does than mean they want an extra $50 million pounds if so isnt that what Bascome said the club would be sold for?

[carlton]

The club can't afford to make these repayments on its own and like you say the bank will seize the club if we don't. If the banks do that then the yanks walk away with a small loss as they're going to have to find an amount of there own cash or personal secured loans before the banks will give them the rest of the money. But even if they don't care about the few £m they will lose, they may care about the £100m profit selling the club would make them.

Basically if they dont pay they'll lose the club and will lose the chance of making £100m's from a future sale or even a sale now.

Yep, I get you what you mean now. That means CL qualification evey season is a must.

[baz87]

Its clear that they want to sell one way or another and it would seem that their plan all along was to get the club cheap and flip it after a year or so without losing a penny. Its just a case of making as much profit as possible. Like i said above i doubt they have any intention or even the means to subsidize the clubs debts for the next few years and will have to sell at some point in the near future.

[baz87]

Yep, I get you what you mean now. That means CL qualification evey season is a must.

In a strange way the quickest way of getting rid would be to fail to qualify, that'll mean the yanks will have to find even more money if they do wish to keep the club. We're unlikely to make any significant profit before the stadium is ready so without the extra loan for the stadium the yanks would still have to come up with near enough £50m a year just to keep the club.

[sonsofthedesert]

Another Telegraph article:

Liverpool fans crave Dubai ending to nightmare
By David Bond
Last Updated: 1:32am GMT 21/01/2008


Have your say Read comments

Liverpool fans planning what is likely to be the first in a series of anti-American protests at Anfield tonight are in no doubt. Having seen their bid dramatically trumped by Tom Hicks and George Gillett last year, Dubai International Capital are the only solution to a crisis distinctly out of keeping with the club's dignified and illustrious history.

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At the same time as angry supporters were bombarding Hicks's New York-based public relations advisers, Kekst, with abusive emails last week, desperate electronic missives were being sent to DIC's Dubai offices urging the country's fabulously rich ruling al-Maktoum family to launch a rescue bid for Liverpool.


Man in the middle: Benitez needs to stay focussed on the football
That bid, which could be worth around £350 million, remains on hold today following a refusal from Hicks to allow DIC access to talk to his bankers, Royal Bank of Scotland.

Hicks wants to wait until after a £350 million refinancing is concluded in the next few days, believing that he will then be able to ask DIC for more money.

But DIC are anxious to strike immediately, fearing the financial position of the club will only worsen if the refinancing goes through. In addition to around £25 million of 'rolled up' interest, the refinancing is set to cost £15 million in fees to the banks, RBS and Wachovia. DIC are likely to reduce the value of their offer to Hicks and Gillett in order to ensure that no more money is wasted. Another £20 million is thought to have been spent on fees to architects for the delayed new £400 million stadium at Stanley Park.

Despite threats that they will walk away if the refinancing goes through, DIC remain committed to buying Liverpool. That will be welcomed by supporters who, according to one online poll last week, overwhelmingly want to see Hicks and Gillett replaced by DIC. Just one per cent want to see the Americans remain in charge while 83 per cent want to see DIC take over.

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But would DIC necessarily be the answer? In terms of financial muscle there can be no question that they are far more powerful.Although DIC chief executive Samir Al Ansari, a lifelong Liverpool supporter, will want to run the club along proper commercial lines, he is backed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and will be able to call on tens of billions of pounds. Crucially, with the stadium plans on hold, DIC will be able to dodge the global credit crunch by borrowing from Dubai state funds at lower interest rates.

Gillett, the owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team, was never likely to be the sort of super-rich chairman Liverpool needed. That is why, as DIC stalled over the deal last December, he brought in Hicks to help him secure the club. Hicks, one of the pioneers of leveraged takeovers in the United States, has a wealth estimated at $1.3 billion (£665 million), according to last year's Forbes magazine 'Rich List'. But the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers owner has been hit hard by the credit crunch.

There is also a question of will. Hicks and Gillett only put up £7.5 million each to secure the costly loans taken out with RBS last year to buy the club in a £220 million deal. And the new refinancing deal has stalled largely because of the Americans' attempt to load that debt on to the club's books and their reluctance to put up more of their own cash.

DIC sources, on the other hand, insist they have a true and long-term commitment to Liverpool - despite leaks of a sensitive City document last year which set out how they could reap a 25 per cent profit if they sold out by 2012. DIC sources insist there was never any intention to sell the club on so quickly.

In the absence of any serious rival bidder, DIC are seen as the only way of ending what has turned from an American dream into a nightmare.

link

[Jimthered]

Tom Hicks comes out fighting for Liverpool

Tom Hicks comes out fighting for Liverpool
By David Bond
Last Updated: 1:32am GMT 21/01/2008



A new bid for Liverpool from Dubai International Capital was hanging in the balance last night after the club's co-owner, Tom Hicks, blocked talks between the investment company and his bankers, the Royal Bank of Scotland.



A crucial meeting was due to be held today between senior executives from Dubai and RBS, who loaned Hicks and his partner, George Gillett Jr, the money last year to complete their £220 million purchase of Liverpool and are currently trying to clinch a £350m refinancing deal.


The talks with RBS are a prelude to a formal offer for the club from DIC, the investment arm of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who missed out in the battle to buy Liverpool last year.

But Hicks has told RBS they cannot open any dialogue with DIC until after the refinancing is completed. DIC in turn have made it clear to Hicks that if he does press ahead with the refinancing then they are prepared to walk away.

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[Skillz]

I still think he'll end up deciding to get out with a tidy profit.

Me too. Might be more in hope than anything else but I think this is more brinkmanship.