Huang Brings Peter Kenyon In For Takeover Negotiations

Peter Kenyon has been engaged by Kenny Huang to lead negotiations for the Chinese consortium in its bid to take over Liverpool. The news emerged as Marc Ganis, the Chicago-based sports executive, was stood down by the Chinese consortium.
Digger understands Ganis has not been involved with Huang since Tuesday this week after what appears to have been a clash of cultures.
Bloomberg reported Kenyon has been involved in talks for several months. He is acting as a consultant on behalf of Huang, having won the mandate through his employer, Creative Artists Agency, whom he joined upon leaving his post as Chelsea's chief executive. Kenyon, who is also a former chief executive of Manchester United, will not take up any boardroom position at Liverpool in the event of success in Huang's bid.
Meanwhile Ganis, who had assisted Huang's QSL sports group in previous negotiations with US sports franchises and sponsors, has lost his own mandate. It was Ganis who detailed in an interview with the US wire agency the Associated Press on 6 August the merits of Huang's bid.
That interview also carried a warning that rather complicated the negotiations with Liverpool's board, which still includes as directors the American co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Ganis said: "What is not one of our goals is the enrichment of the existing owners."
Ganis was not available to respond to Digger's request last night to explain his departure from the Huang consortium.
It is impossible to know for sure why he is no longer part of the bid. But at a time when Hicks and Gillett's principal motivation is to recover some cash value for their equity, the best bet is he has paid for those comments.

Bleating a bit rich

Press briefings from China that Huang is growing frustrated with the sale process at Liverpool are a little rich. It is not the fault of the club's vendors that as recently as this week his consortium had still not provided incontrovertible evidence that he had the money to turn his proposal into a purchase. There are signs that at last it has now been provided, and if so it is quite likely that his is the only credible bid on the table.
Huang is certainly convinced his package is the best for the club (though quite how he would know what others are offering is another matter entirely). But even so, Liverpool fans must not expect the Chinese consortium to gain control imminently: Barclays Capital and the club's chairman, Martin Broughton – who together are leading the process – have a fiduciary duty to explore the merits of other bids first.