Is David Moores a fan or a businessman??

[red g]

the question is ....I love Liverpool FC and i have been at the head table for many years, why would i scupper so many deals just to get my hands on this 300million.......if he is??!

Is moores not rich enough anyway??? could he not sell for say 200million and leave us 100million for a few players! I know if i was selling Liverpool FC for 300million I would gladly give Rafa 100million as a gift.leaving me with 200million .

Would you do the same? I dont know the ins and outs of the takeover and very few do......but is David Moores being a businessman first and fan second??

[tomasjj]

If he was a top business man, would we have to look for investment then?

[Lecter]

the question is ....I love Liverpool FC and i have been at the head table for many years, why would i scupper so many deals just to get my hands on this 300million.......if he is??!

Is moores not rich enough anyway??? could he not sell for say 200million and leave us 100million for a few players! I know if i was selling Liverpool FC for 300million I would gladly give Rafa 100million as a gift.leaving me with 200million .

Would you do the same? I dont know the ins and outs of the takeover and very few do......but is David Moores being a businessman first and fan second??

My take on this investment hasnt changed

I think Moores wants a reasonable price for his shares (current trading market value plus a little extra as is the norm with many takeovers)

However I also believe Moores is making the building of the stadium conditional of any sale and thats whats making investment in us unattractive

I honestly dont believe any of the stories circulating in the press I think theres been people sniffing but little or no follow through once the conditions of sale have been made clear

[Resu]

I think I read somewhere (could it have been on here?)that Moores was willing to cut the price on his part of the shares if the right deal for club came.
If that`s true I`d defo say he`s a fan, but I`d call him a fan anyway. We don`t know enough about the offers to say if they`re good for the club or not.

[NICKZS]

the question is ....I love Liverpool FC and i have been at the head table for many years, why would i scupper so many deals just to get my hands on this 300million.......if he is??!

Is moores not rich enough anyway??? could he not sell for say 200million and leave us 100million for a few players! I know if i was selling Liverpool FC for 300million I would gladly give Rafa 100million as a gift.leaving me with 200million .

Would you do the same? I dont know the ins and outs of the takeover and very few do......but is David Moores being a businessman first and fan second??

Yes, I would say so

[Chrono]

You would give the club 100m to do whatever they liked with? I think if that cash was in front of you, regardless of being a fan you would be insane to do that.

[red g]

My take on this investment hasnt changed

I think Moores wants a reasonable price for his shares (current trading market value plus a little extra as is the norm with many takeovers)

However I also believe Moores is making the building of the stadium conditional of any sale and thats whats making investment in us unattractive

I honestly dont believe any of the stories circulating in the press I think theres been people sniffing but little or no follow through once the conditions of sale have been made clear

in your view....is moores doing that for the good of LFC? making the stadium build compulsory??

Surely any investor with visions of taking this club back to where it belongs would have viewed the stadium as neccessary

[red g]

You would give the club 100m to do whatever they liked with? I think if that cash was in front of you, regardless of being a fan you would be insane to do that.

no....i would give 100million for team sales IF i had 200 million banked from the sale.

[Lecter]

in your view....is moores doing that for the good of LFC? making the stadium build compulsory??

Surely any investor with visions of taking this club back to where it belongs would have viewed the stadium as neccessary

Yes I think making the stadium build conditional is for the benefit of the club

The thing is its easy looking at it and saying the stadium is a necessity for the future BUT when it near doubles the initial outlay of the company you are buying then it might make investment in us unviable

[Chris]

Makes me laugh when people say Moores should just throw away 10s of millions just to get a takeover quicker.

If someone matches the conditions and gives the right price im sure there will be a deal.

Another line every transfer window is "Why doesnt Moores just give Rafa £50m from his own pocket this once?"

[enema of the state]

but is David Moores being a businessman first and fan second??

actually rather a silly question

david moores is not and has NEVER been a businessman of any kind.

he is a silver spoon heir from a mega rich family

he is a crazy and besotted red who has NEVER made a penny from holding lfc shares. he cares about the personal status and prestige the lfc chairmanship brings him and the role of the ownership of lfc is his "family silver".

I believe moores is driving what many investors (some unacceptable profiteers of questionable integrity)



might see as a hard bargain but his reasons for doing so most definitely do not represent him being more of a businessman than a fan.

I think he honestly believes that he offers more to the club than any of the offers in the ether thus far. i believe very strongly (same ) that he has a clearly defined set of parameters which if met would lead him to give up the thing he cherishes. i do not know exactly what these are but my interpretation of public domain facts is that securing the stadium is a key one of them.

i am certain that his stance nothing to do with the size of the personal profit he WILL make if he ever sells some or all of his lfc stake.

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Both but Fan more id say

[red g]

In December 2004, David Moores, chairman of and largest investor in the fabled Liverpool Football Club, appeared to be distraught as he addressed his team's board. Moores fretted that the financially strapped club would have to scuttle plans for a £170 million ($290 million) stadium.

The new ground across Stanley Park from their Anfield home was needed to bring in receipts the Reds need to remain competitive on the pitch against much wealthier rivals like Manchester United and Chelsea. "These past 12 months have not been easy," said Moores during the meeting. "We are looking at all roads to get investment into this club, including offers already on the table."

A full year and a surprise European championship title later, the club's inner circle must have been shocked to hear the same sentiments from Moores. The team posted 2005 operating losses (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) of £1.6 million despite £30 million in bonus revenue from European competition. We estimate that the value of Liverpool fell 11% in the past year, to £226 million.

How could the finances be so dismal? The club had come to life under new coach Rafael Benitez and such star players as midfielder Steven Gerrard and defender Jamie Carragher. Entering the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League competition a heavy underdog, it dispatched much fancied Chelsea in the semifinals and then pulled off a stunning come-from-behind upset of Italian powerhouse AC Milan in the final. It was the fifth such title in the team's storied history, dating to 1892.

Liverpool's fan base soared to 18 million people worldwide, from just 8 million the year before, according to German sports-consultant Sport & Markt AG. Besides collecting the European revenue, a record number of visitors to the club's Web site generated £685,000 last year, 11 times 2004 Web-related revenue.

Moores has since ironed out a contractual dispute with kit sponsor Reebok, yielding a more lucrative six-year pact that could be worth £100 million on top of another deal with Adidas. He also extended by two years the club's 12-year shirt sponsorship by Danish brewer Carlsberg, the longest-running commercial partnership in England's elite Premier League, worth a reported £5 million per year.

Despite Liverpool's rebound on the pitch, it has taken Moores' total commitment and financial legwork just to keep the lights on. Profits on player transfers as Benitez reshaped the team helped the Reds post an accounting profit in 2005, but a £65 million payroll, at 73% of ex-Champions League revenue, is too rich. Had Liverpool missed qualifying for the 2005 Champions bracket, the club very well could have been running £30 million short of breath.

An undercapitalised team like Liverpool cannot consistently compete with rich clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal (also of London) without a modern stadium. The Reds pull in only £33 million from stadium revenue; Manchester United gets more than double that.

With a capacity of only 45,000, Liverpool's Anfield can't come close to accommodating the crowds Manchester United packs into its Old Trafford stadium (68,000, expanding to 76,000 this year). A move into the planned 60,000-seat Stanley Park could mean a 35% boost for Liverpool's match-day revenue (more than £11.5 million) in its first season.

Liverpool's ticket prices are lower, too. Match-day revenue contributed only 27% of total income for Liverpool, a far cry from the 38% to 42% seen at rivals ManU, Newcastle United and Chelsea. Making matters worse, a new broadcasting agreement for the Premier League will diminish fees paid out to clubs. This particularly hurts Liverpool, whose fans travel the farthest of any Premiership club (50 miles on average) to home matches, according to research consultant SportsWise.

One way to boost operating income would be to solicit some new equity capital and invest in a new stadium. But Moores, who owns 51% of the team, is not enthusiastic about diluting his stake. (He declines to be interviewed on the subject.)

He has suitors. On March 29, the club said in a London Stock Exchange statement that it was in talks with a shortlist of fewer than ten possible investors regarding "a potential investment of new funds" that "may include an offer for the entire share capital of the club".

There is equity money to be had from, for example, Robert Kraft. The U.S. billionaire owns two American pro sports teams, Major League Soccer's New England Revolution and the New England Patriots of the National Football League.

The billionaire has reportedly offered to bankroll up to £60 million of the construction of Liverpool's proposed new stadium in return for a minority stake. Kraft pumped £200 million of his own money into a new stadium for the Patriots franchise, which he bought for £99 million in 1994 and turned into the third-most-valuable team in the NFL, worth £575 million.

Prior to Kraft, Thailand's wealthy Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made intimations that he, the Thai government or private Thai companies (depending on the day) had interest in the cornered club. But wrinkles in how a 30% stake worth up to £63 million would be financed dissolved talks prematurely.


Another knocking at Liverpool's door has been Spanish tycoon Juan Villalonga, a former president of Spanish telecom giant Telefonica.

By far, Liverpool's most visible suitor has been Moores' fellow club director, centimillionaire British businessman Steven Morgan. Boardroom bickering spilled over once again this past February at the club's annual general meeting as Morgan, now the third-largest shareholder, contended that Liverpool's debt burden (£26 million) meant he should get a discount on buying a majority stake.

As early as 2004's general meeting, it was Morgan's wife who voiced her frustration over spurned attempts by her husband to scoop up shares in the club. "Here is a local, successful businessman willing to put millions into this club," said Didy Morgan. "Yet we are still waiting by the phone."

Morgan, flush from a likely sale of his stake in a hotel group, may renew his efforts to recapitalise the club. At some point, if the price gets high enough or the balance sheet strained enough, Moores might just take the money.


This is an interesting articledating backto march 2006

[Jayesh87]

Rafa unfazed by takeover talk

By Alex Livie - Created on 21 Nov 2006

Rafa Benitez has admitted he is aware of takeover interest in Liverpool, but is unfazed by the prospect of the club heading into new ownership.

On the day West Ham confirmed Icelandic businessman Eggert Magnusson had struck a deal to take control at Upton Park, American entrepreneur George Gillett has been linked with a bid for Liverpool.

Benitez is aware of interest in the club, but is keen to ensure focus does not shift from on-field matters at Anfield.

"We are focused on games and we need to improve our away form and other things," he said on Sky Sports News. "And I know the board will do the best thing for this club.

"I have some information, but I am not worried about this. There are some people interested, but it is normal as this is a big club.

"But I am focused on the games and trying to improve to see how we can start winning away.

"I cannot control these things and I do not think about them."

Benitez admits he has an eye on the January transfer window, but is keen to ensure focus remains on climbing the league.

"I am always thinking about how to improve my team, I am not thinking about January," he stated. "You always need to check the market, but at the moment we are focused on the next games."

[Iceman]

He is most definately a fan, I have met him on several occasions and done work on his house, he is a very nice man, if a little disconnected from the real world, due to his wealth, even before he became chairman the cars lined up outside his house were numbered KOP 1, KOP 2. and KOP 5, we talked a lot about football (possibly because it was the only thing we had in common) but his knowledge and passion was clearly there to see.

Sadly his wealth is not great by the new standards set by a club using money stolen from the good people of Russia, and I think that he realises that his wealth can no longer compete in the new reality of football so is looking for someone with sufficient wealth to take us onto the next level.

I know if he had to leave the club he would be heartbroken