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SOLD!!! -Lock, Stock and Barrel

19K views 487 replies 47 participants last post by  Deo  
#1 ·
Think we should have a separate thread to discuss Liverpool's financial problems, especially as things seem to be building up in terms of investment.

Purslow has been in the news today saying we should have investment by the end of the summer. More interestingly, SOS held a meeting with Purslow and some "enlightening" things were said. Here's the link to the website and the contents of that meeting.

www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Minutes-from-Christian-Purslow-and-SOS-Meeting.html

I won't quote the thing, but i was surprised at how open he was and how hostile he seemed about the owners (apparently his employers) in the minutes SOS noted down. Is he really that dumb or is he playing some kind of Machiavellian game with owners/fans/future investors? :confused:. He comes across as a pretty sharp guy (before this meeting). Furthermore, RBS want ÂŁ100m by the end of the season and to quote Purslow:-

CP - LFC is for sale. It will be sold. The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it.

So is there light at the end of the tunnel OR is this just more bullshit coming out from the Liverpool hierarchy?
 
#3 ·
apparently there is more than one draft of the minutes and they differ slightly but you can get the jist of what was said.

At least they are trying to do something and the club recognises them or they wouldnt bother meeting them?Prehaps you can set up a meet with them ?You seem to know more than most , im sure you can set them straight.
 
G
#4 ·
The club doesn't recognize them for being another other than a pain in the arse. These idiots have accomplished nothing since they founded this collecting of jokers. They've held a few little marches, got their names and faces in the paper, done some shouting, and told a lot of lies.

Do you actually think Purslow is going to put his job at risk by speaking out against his bosses? Against the people that hired him. Its garbage. It's the SOS comically attempting to show their members that they are doing something in order to justify the money they have stolen from people as "membership fees" to this apparent "union".

If an Arab billionaire bought the club in the morning, the SOS would claim to have played a part in it.
 
G
#11 ·
Purslow said what he said knowing that it was going to be published.

And it's a good thing it was made public. Liverpool fans have a right to know what's happening. I guess if it was up to the likes of you we'd just sit quiet watching our club getting raped by those parasites.
Yes he said everything knowing it wasn't off the record. That was the point of the meeting, having a discussion with SOS who would then report to it's members.

That's why "minutes" were recorded and that why SOS sent them to Purslow to agree on and why he sent his own back and why both versions were published. You can choose whichever one you want to believe.
You are a daft little girl.

When i see Christian Purslow on TV saying those things, then they will be believable. When they are "minutes" from a meeting staged by a bunch of muppets, then they sit firmly in the lies column.
 
#8 ·
Purslow said what he said knowing that it was going to be published.

And it's a good thing it was made public. Liverpool fans have a right to know what's happening. I guess if it was up to the likes of you we'd just sit quiet watching our club getting raped by those parasites.
 
#10 ·
Yes he said everything knowing it wasn't off the record. That was the point of the meeting, having a discussion with SOS who would then report to it's members.

That's why "minutes" were recorded and that why SOS sent them to Purslow to agree on and why he sent his own back and why both versions were published. You can choose whichever one you want to believe.
 
#14 ·
Yes, you are absolutely right, even though you don't actually comprehend it: they were meant for their members, this was internal stuff, NOT SOMETHING FOR THE WHOLE FVCKING WORLD TO SEE.

And the definition of "minutes" is that they are written down, not recorded, that's why it's common they differ in some small details a lot of times.

I'm really perplexed as to whom to believe, some fvckers at the board or numbskulls that aren't capable of thinking five minutes ahead and won't get any information anymore, you can be sure about that

:thmbdown:.
 
#12 ·
Regardless of who the owners are, how much investment in going into the club, SOS, whatever. I think the major problem is Rafa, so you won't see anything change. He doesn't have the judgement, foresight, vision to make any sort of progress. He can't be making the type of transfer blunders that he usually makes, and will continue to do so. In football at this level mistakes cost entire seasons, can set back years.
 
#13 ·
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani sets sights on buying Liverpool from Hicks and Gillett

Helen Power, Business Correspondent, Matt Hughes, Patrick Kidd

Liverpool emerged as a takeover target for the seventh-richest man in the world last night as the pressure mounted on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to cut a deal to sell Anfield.

Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest man in India, is one of two tycoons from the sub-continent competing to buy a stake in the Merseyside club.

The Sahara Group’s chairman, Subrata Roy, and Ambani’s Reliance Industries have each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool’s £237 million debt in return for a 51 per cent stake in the club.


Last night Christian Purslow, the Liverpool chief executive, denied any knowledge of either bid, but The Times understands that approaches began as early as November and that some preliminary talks have taken place.

Each deal requires that the present owners make a commitment to take no dividends or expenses out of Anfield for three years to allow the club to resume a secure financial basis. One of the potential owners has also indicated a willingness to allow supporters to take a 10 per cent stake in Liverpool.

A source close to Hicks and Gillett said that the duo would reject on principle any bid that left them with less than 50 per cent of the club’s shares unless it involved either of them selling out entirely. A sale of more than half of the total stake would mean they would lose control of the club.

It is understood that Liverpool’s banker, the state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, is pressing Hicks and Gillett to cut their asking price.

The bank declined to comment last night, but a source close to RBS said that there has been plenty of interest in Liverpool from investors. However, the source added, the owners are blocking all deals on the table because they refuse to budge on price.

The source said the bank’s stipulation that the pair must pay off £100 million of the debt and inject tens of millions of pounds into the club was intended to push them into an agreement with a new investor that would permanently stabilise Liverpool’s finances.

A number of other potential bidders include a Saudi Arabian consortium and a United States-based buyer, who is prepared to pay the ÂŁ100 million required by the lenders in exchange for 40 per cent of the club
.

Roy, whose interest appears more serious, has been linked with ownership of one of the next IPL franchises, possibly to be based in the north Indian city of Lucknow, where the Sahara Group, of which he is chairman, is based.

Roy, 62, founded the company, which deals in property, media and tourism, in 1978. Its four-year sponsorship deal with the India cricket team, worth ÂŁ55 million, expires this year and Roy could be looking for a new project. Sahara was linked with shirt sponsorship of Manchester United last February, a deal that fell through.

Ambani, 52, is said to be worth $19.5 billion (about £12.5 billion) — more than the combined worth of Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich — from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.

His father, Dhirubhai, turned a small textiles company into one of Asia’s largest conglomerates, but after Ambani Sr’s death in 2002, Mukesh and his younger brother, Anil, had a bitter feud over the company’s direction, eventually splitting the assets.

Mukesh Ambani is already a big player in sport. In 2008 he created the Mumbai Indians, one of the eight teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), having paid ÂŁ70 million to buy the franchise. Anil Ambani has been linked with a bid for one of two new franchises in the IPL that will be put up for auction at the end of the month, with a starting price of ÂŁ140 million.

Gillett and Hicks took over at Anfield three years ago in a leveraged buyout costing nearly ÂŁ300 million, including ÂŁ70 million for a stadium that remains unbuilt. Despite promises to the contrary, they loaded the debt on to the club via a ÂŁ350 million loan with RBS and have struggled to service the debt since the credit crunch began 18 months ago.

Before the economic climate changed for the worse, the American duo turned down an offer from Dubai worth almost £500 million — a deal that would have allowed each of the owners to walk away with a clear profit in the region of £125 million.

The Americans are unpopular with the supporters and the hostility at Anfield has increased as it has become clear that there is no money available to strengthen the team.

Purslow, whose background is in private equity, joined the club last summer with a brief to bring in investment but, despite repeated briefings that an influx of cash in close at hand, there has been little to suggest investors are keen to take a minority stake in the club.

While these latest offers will almost certainly be rejected, it marks the beginning of a period of jockeying for position in the ownership battle. It is a battle that, ultimately, RBS may have to resolve.

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7020022.ece

We need Doc to confirm this.
 
#16 ·
India's wealthiest man denies Liverpool takeover deal

But another Indian businessman who is also said to be in the running for the Merseyside club appeared more circumspect.

The Times reported that Ambani, the world's seventh-richest man, was one of two tycoons from the subcontinent who were interested in buying a stake at Anfield.

According to the report, Ambani's Reliance Industries and Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy had each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool's ÂŁ237 million debts in return for a 51 per cent stake in the club.

"There is no truth to the report. We deny it completely," Reliance spokeswoman Sudeep Purkayastha said.
Ambani is worth $19.5 billion from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.

In 2008, Ambani created the Mumbai Indians, one of the eight teams in cricket's Indian Premier League.
Roy's interest in Liverpool, however, appears "more serious". His Sahara conglomerate said it could neither confirm nor deny that a bid was in the offing.

"We are presently not in a position to comment," Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar said.
Sahara has been linked with ownership of one of the next IPL franchises, possibly to be based in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, where the group is headquartered.

Pressure has been mounting on Liverpool's feuding owners, US businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, to cut a deal to sell the Anfield club.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...gue/liverpool/7194768/Indias-wealthiest-man-denies-Liverpool-takeover-deal.html
 
#25 ·
They're as dodgy as Abramovich, but they do have brains. I'd prefer them to the Yanks tbf.
 
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#26 ·
Manchester United and Liverpool fans plan shock joint Old Trafford protest at their American owners

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 10:37 AM on 22nd February 2010

Manchester United and Liverpool fans could launch an incredible joint protest against their American owners.

Supporters from the arch rivals are rumoured to be plotting an 'unholy alliance' when they collide at Old Trafford next month.

The two sets of fans are prepared to put aside their bitter rivalry in a stunning combined backlash against the men who run their clubs.

Discussions on the move have already taken place between key fan groups, according to the Manchester Evening News.

United supporters are raging over the level of debt that has accumulated under the Glazers despite their huge success on the field in recent seasons.

Liverpool, who have struggled on the pitch this season, are also heavily in debt under the stewardship of co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Although any joint protest has yet to be finalised, it is expected that United and Liverpool fans will perform the unthinkable at their showdown on March 21.

It is highly unlikely that the two sets of fans would march together outside the ground thanks to their huge rivalry. Instead, the protests would be confined to inside Old Trafford with huge banners and chants.
Manchester United

A source told the Manchester Evening News: 'There have been talks and certain groups from both sides are up for it.

'It just shows what state football in this country is in when two of its biggest rivals are talking about joining together.

'It's a massively sensitive issue and whether it will happen at this match, I don't know.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...l-fans-plan-shock-joint-Old-Trafford-protest-American-owners.html#ixzz0gHVNjOwJ

I like the sound of this. Hope it happens.
 
#30 ·
Torres’ frustration came as it was reported last night that an American equity firm, the Rhone Group, is working on a £100m deal to buy 40% of Liverpool. However, sources with knowledge of the club’s search for new investors said Liverpool “are not anywhere close to a deal to sell a major stake in the club”. Liverpool’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, have hired Rothschild to seek new partners, and the bankers have been in talks with “several” interested parties, including at least one US-based group other than Rhone. But no deal will happen before Liverpool’s qualification for next season’s Champions League is settled. Qualifying would help Hicks and Gillett keep majority ownership. Failure could force a sale of the whole club.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7061092.ece

I'm willing to have us finish out of the top 4 if it means the yanks leaving. Rafa, you're doing a great job. Keep it up!
 
#31 ·
From The Times
March 15, 2010
RhĂ´ne Group makes offer for stake in Liverpool

Tony Barrett

The Liverpool ownership saga has yet to be resolved but RhĂ´ne Group, a New York-based investment vehicle, has become the first of several interested parties to declare its hand by making an official proposal to the club.

RhĂ´ne Group, run by a pair of billionaires, Steven Langman and Robert Agostinelli, has been in talks with Liverpool for several weeks and its interest became known to The Times last week, only for club officials to deny that an offer was imminent.

That offer was made in the early hours of Saturday morning, with Rhône seeking to acquire a 40 per cent majority stake in the club for a fee in the region of £110 million. The bid has yet to be discussed by the Liverpool board, which is hopeful that other concrete proposals will be put forward before the Easter deadline set by Christian Purslow, the club’s managing director.

Having valued the club at upwards of ÂŁ500 million, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the co-owners, are known to be reluctant to accept the offer from RhĂ´ne, but with the Royal Bank of Scotland, to which they owe ÂŁ237 million, demanding that this debt is cut by ÂŁ100 million by July, the American duo could be forced into doing a deal that would significantly dilute their shareholding.

The experience of American ownership has been a bitter one for the Liverpool supporters, who have been angered by the failure of Hicks and Gillett to honour a series of promises made at the outset of their partnership. As such, RhĂ´ne would need to prove from the outset that its commitment to improve the club is backed by hard cash and not yet more borrowing if it is to stand a realistic chance of receiving backing from the fans.

Initial fears that the offer from RhĂ´ne amounted to little more than another leveraged buyout have been allayed by club sources, who have indicated that the bid involved equity, not debt.

The need for investment in the club has been all too apparent of late, with Liverpool’s financial problems off the pitch mirrored by a struggle for form on it. Fernando Torres, one of the few players to highlight the shortcomings of his employers, has again spoken his mind on the matter, insisting that “four or five” new signings must be brought in this summer if Liverpool are to stand any chance of competing for the honours he craves.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7061803.ece

This looks pretty serious.

Can't say i'm too happy with this. Would prefer to have a full buyout rather than 3 clueless yanks (or is it 4?) trying to meddle with Liverpool.
 
#33 ·
Barclays rescues Liverpool
Dominic O’Connell Business Editor

BARCLAYS is to make a shock intervention at Liverpool FC, backing a ÂŁ300m refinancing that will lead to the sale of the club.

The bank is this weekend finalising a deal that will see it displace the club’s current lenders, provide additional funds to Rafa Benitez, the manager, and install as chairman Martin Broughton of British Airways. Barclays Capital has been hired to find a buyer.


The move will dispel fears of a meltdown at Liverpool. The team’s owners, American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, have been at war over strategy and financing for more than a year. Fans have campaigned to oust the pair, and Benitez has had public disputes with them over spending on players.

The club faces an imminent cash crisis. It has outstanding loans of ÂŁ237m and its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, an American bank, have demanded ÂŁ100m by July.

Barclays, the main sponsor of the Premier League, will replace RBS and Wachovia, and provide the club with additional capital. “The club’s finances are improving. It just needs breathing space to get itself into shape before it is sold,” one adviser working on the deal said yesterday.

Hicks and Gillett have agreed to Broughton’s appointment. A former head of BAT, the tobacco giant, and the British Horseracing Authority, he is chairman of British Airways, where he has been grappling with cabin crew strikes.

Banking sources said last night that Broughton had been given the job of steering through the refinancing, resolving the rift between Hicks and Gillett, and, with Barclays Capital, finding a new owner.

Analysts have suggested that Liverpool is worth ÂŁ500m but Barclays is understood to believe it would fetch far more if given time to improve its trading.

“Broughton is the kind of international business figure who will be able to bring in the standard of bidders Liverpool should attract,” one source said.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool in 2007 from the Moores family for ÂŁ219m. The family sold up because they hoped to secure backing to build a new stadium that would allow Liverpool to compete with on better terms with United.

The scheme has been dogged with delays, however, with Hicks and Gillett blaming the banking crisis for their inability to finance construction.

The club has been talking to potential investors for several months including an American private equity fund, Rhone Group. It offered to buy a 40% stake in the club for ÂŁ116m.

Hicks and Gillett’s dealings with senior Liverpool executives have proved difficult.

Rick Parry, who had been chief executive of the club for 12 years, quit last June after a deterioration in his relationship with Hicks.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7094313.ece

wtf??? :confused:

So now we're ÂŁ63m more in debt?
 
#35 ·
We are basically ****ed. They've just transferred their debt from RBS to Barclays and whilst doing so added some more :frustrat::mad:.

The parasites are going to be hanging around for much longer. Was hopeful they'd be gone by summer. For the near future, no stadium, money from the club going to debt instead of the squad, possibly players sold/wanting out, Rafa leaving and being replaced by MON :scared:...:wallbang:.

We are literally dying a slow death and most of our fans just care about getting Rafa out :(.
 
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