Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Broughton moves to seal a deal to reassure senior players

American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett agreed to sell the club in April after coming under pressure from RBS, which is owed £237m, and Broughton, who is understood to have received several proposals from potential buyers, believe that the transfer window represents the most likely period for a sale.
The commitment to seal a deal by Aug 31 comes as the only publicly declared bidder, Chinese businessman Kenneth Huang, Monday night attempted to increase the pressure on Broughton and RBS by indicating he will walk away from his proposed deal for the club if it is not concluded in the next two weeks.
Huang is attempting to take control at Anfield by dealing directly with RBS, offering to repay some or all of the £237m debt incurred by American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in the course of their 2007 takeover, and hoping that the bank will lean on Broughton and the club board.
Sources close to the club and the owners said last night that Huang was just one of a number of potential buyers to have submitted proposals to Broughton, and suggested he is attempting to secure supporter backing for his bid by going public.
Huang, a Wall Street stockbroker and chairman of the Hong Kong-based QSL Sports group, is the frontman for a sovereign wealth fund based in the Far East, but his advisers have not publicly revealed the source of the money.
He previously expressed an interest in buying the club in 2008 but was put off by a valuation of £650 million, and was among a number of potential buyers approached by Broughton and investment bank Barclays Capital when they took charge of the search for investment in April.
Telegraph Sport understands that Huang's camp approached Richard Holliday, the RBS executive responsible for the Liverpool account, directly last month in an attempt to bypass the Americans and take advantage of disquiet at the bank about the club's future.
When asked directly about Huang's approach, a spokesman for the bank denied that they had any discussions with him or "any bidder for Liverpool".
Only when pressed later in the day did the bank concede that it had received an approach. It said that it referred Huang to Broughton and Barclays Capital.
Huang's bid is understood to value the club at around £300 million, short of the £800 million valuation offered by Hicks earlier this year, and around half the price of offers Hicks and Gillett have previously turned down. While this valuation should be seen as part of a negotiation, he is clearly reluctant to offer the Americans any premium for their involvement with the club.
Sources close to Huang have said his consortium would also make funds available to manager Roy Hodgson in an attempt to convince Torres, Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina to remain at the club, and to continue work on the new ground promised by Hicks and Gillett.
RBS has gradually increased its demands on Hicks and Gillett during the three years of their ownership, demanding greater levels of personal guarantees and security as their American investments came under pressure following the credit crunch.
In April this year however RBS demanded that the Americans agree to an exit strategy and they also agreed to extend the lending agreement, due to expire in the summer, only to October.
In March this year RBS told the Premier League that it would guarantee the club's finances until the end of the 2010-11 season, but could not guarantee those of the current owners beyond this autumn.
Huang is now hoping to exploit that lack of certainty by persuading RBS and Broughton that, with club revenues under pressure following the failure to qualify for the Champions League, he is the only credible alternative to another season under the Americans' continued ownership.

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