Liverpool: Show Us If You Have Money To Buy Us

LIVERPOOL FC are now keen to see potential owners make formal bids for the club, the Daily Post understands.
None of the potential bidders have yet proved it has the funds to buy the club.
But it is believed the Anfield hierarchy now want to move the process forward.
Chairman Martin Broughton is thought to want to be in a position to reveal more details of a potential sale ahead of the club’s opening match of the new season on Sunday, August 15.
But none of the potential bidders has yet proved to him and advisor Barclays Capital it has the funds to take control.

Businessman Kenny Huang, who the Daily Post revealed yesterday may be backed by the China Investment Corporation (CIC), last night declined to comment on the involvement of the Chinese state in his group.
CIC is the Chinese state’s sovereign wealth fund which manages about £188bn.
Dan Diamond, representative of rival bidder, Syrian Yahya Kirdi, is reported to have claimed the Middle Eastern businessman had reached agreement with current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to buy the club.
He is hoping Mr Broughton will do his own “sniff test” on the deal next week.
But sources close to the negotiations have cast doubt on how serious Mr Kirdi’s interest is.
He is understood to be close to George Gillett’s son, Foster, once a board member at Anfield.
Meanwhile, private equity company the Rhone Group, which has not returned the Daily Post’s phone calls, and the Kuwaiti Al Kharafi family are also understood to be involved in the process.
Leading fans groups last night demanded that the club’s directors and banks ensure any winning consortium “has the interests of the Club and its fans at heart.”
Spirit of Shankly –ShareLiverpoolFC (SOS-SL), which is pursuing a plan to bring about democratic ownership of Liverpool FC by the fans, said it would welcome the prospect of the departure of the Club’s present American owners. But it said it was “imperative that the Club, the directors responsible for overseeing the sales process, as well as RBS and Wells Fargo banks, ensure that if the Club is sold, it is sold to the most suitable consortium.”
A spokesman added: “The interests of Liverpool Football Club’s supporters must be considered in this process.
“Any prospective new owner will be acutely aware that much of the commercial value of the Club is directly derived from its global supporter base which drives the scale of the branding, merchandising and sponsorship opportunities that exist for the club.

“Any further fracture in the relationship between those who own the Club and its supporters, will impact upon any owners’ ability to realise LFC’s commercial potential and therefore its ability to compete at the highest levels.”
SOS-SL has a base of 50,000 supporters and claims it already has non-binding pledges of £35m to put towards an investment in the club.
In September, it hopes to commence collecting these in a credit union vehicle.
It believes that fan base can be expanded to 350,000 once a marketing campaign is started and is capable of raising more than £175m to invest in LFC, either as a majority investor, or as part of a consortium.
The spokesman said: “We have launched no formal bid for LFC, but we have been in contact with Barclays Capital to register our interest in investing in the club.”
SOS-SL demanded that any winning consortium should have real equity to reduce the gearing on the club – eliminating the debt – and providing the resources to undertake the capital expenditure to rebuild the club particularly:
To be able to fund the equity part of the new stadium;
To be able to buy players over the short and medium term to ensure LFC are able to compete at the very highest levels.
The spokesperson said: “Given the financial dynamics of running a football club, and particularly the need for annual player acquisitions, SOS-SL believes any genuine investor is more likely to seek a return on their investment at exit rather than seeking substantial annual dividend returns, and should be willing to partner with organised fans who wish to provide additional equity for the Club.

“The long-term future of this football club, as well as any investment in it, is entirely dependent on the goodwill and support of the fans.
“The last decision regarding the ownership of Liverpool FC proved to be the most disastrous in the history of the Club. We cannot afford to get it wrong again.”
The group said Hicks and Gillett's overriding objective “will be to sell the club to the highest bidder in order to extract as large a profit as possible.”
The spokesman said: “It will not be in the best interest of the club or the fans if the new investor consortium has insufficient funds post acquisition or is highly leveraged and therefore with insufficient funds to achieve the club’s minimum expectations; investment in a stadium and funding for the team to enable LFC to compete at the highest level domestically and in Europe.”
The group also called on tax-payer owned bank RBS – and the coalition government – to ensure the board at LFC “select the most suitable investor consortium.”