RBS vs G&H: Verdict To Be Announced Tomorrow

The Royal Bank of Scotland's
battle with George Gillett and
Tom Hicks will be decided in the
High Court tomorrow morning.
Although Mr Justice Floyd,
presiding, had initially
suggested that a decision
before the end of the week
would be a "little ambitious",
Liverpool's current owners will
learn their fate at 10.30am
following a day of lengthy
arguments from all parties
concerned.
Representatives for the
American duo, the Anfield
board, prospective new owners
New England Sports Ventures
and RBS, the club's primary
creditors since 2008, all took to
the stand ahead of tomorow's
verdict.
Richard Snowdon QC, acting for
the bank, accused Gillett and
Hicks of acting with
"breathtaking arrogance" in
their attempts to derail the sale
process and insisted that the
high street giant were willing to
wave "tens of millions of
pounds in fees" to see the sale
completed.
Whilst Lord Grabiner QC,
representing the club, described
the duo, who seized control at
Anfield in 2007, as "slippery"
after seeking a one-week
adjournment in a bid to outlast
NESV's deadline for their offer,
which expires on Friday.
In his absence, Hicks wrote a
letter to the court claiming that
both he and Gillett felt they "had
become excluded from the sales
process by the board" and cited
an email which referred to the
club's English directors as the
"home team", which was
accidentally sent to Gillett.
Hicks also alleges that offers
from the Meriton Group, run by
Singapore billionaire Peter Lim,
and American hedge fund
group Mill Financial, who
technically control Gillett's 50%
stake in Kop Holdings -
Liverpool's parent company,
were ignored by the board.
However Liverpool argue that
Mill Financial wanted a period of
exclusivity, which contravened
RBS' agreement, whilst
Meriton's offer was
"significantly less" than that of
NESV, who announced their
proposed £300million buyout
last week.
Chairman Martin Broughton and
managing director Christian
Purslow were both in
attendance at today's
proceedings as onlookers after
it emerged that Hicks had tried
to counter-sue the pair along
with RBS and commercial
director Ian Ayre.
Speaking after the hearing,
Broughton said: "Judgement
reserved, I'm not allowed to say
anything. But we remain
confident.
"For everybody it is nerve-
wracking. But we will find out
at 10.30 tomorrow."