Liverpool close to sale after owners lose High Court hearing

October 13, 2010

Tom Hicks and George Gillett, co-owners of English Premier League side Liverpool, have lost their High Court case to try and prevent the sale of the club.

Mr Justice Floyd ruled that Hicks and Gillett have no power to block the sale of Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures (NESV).

At the request of Royal Bank of Scotland, the club’s main creditors, the judge imposed injunctions on the two men requiring them to restore the original constitutions of the companies and managing directors, pushing the club closer to being sold.

This removes the final stumbling block to a £300 million (US$475 million) takeover by NESV which will see the RBS recoup its original £237 million (US$375 million) loan to Hicks and Gillett when they bought the club in March 2007.

A Liverpool statement read: “We are delighted that the court has clarified the issue of board composition and has removed the uncertainty around the sale process.

“We will now be consulting with our lawyers and planning for a board meeting tonight. A further statement will be made in due course.”

Meanwhile, a second bid from Singapore businessman Peter Lim has also been made, and Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton has claimed he won’t make a decision over which bid to back until tonight’s meeting has taken place.

Broughton said: “The board has to be reconstituted and I can’t prejudge what the board is going to say. It would be inappropriate to prejudge what the board may say.”