Chinese tycoon eyes Liverpool FC takeover
Liverpool could be set for a multi-million pound takeover in the coming week, as a Chinese businessman stepped up his efforts to own the club.
Tycoon Kenny Huang is in negotiations with the Royal Bank of Scotland in a bid to take control of the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the American duo who have heaped around £237million of debt on the Anfield outfit ever since they bought it – with the help of a huge loan from RBS – in February 2007.
The Premier League giants have been up for sale since April, and Huang’s approach to RBS is seen as an attempt to begin discussions over the repayment of the debt, and ultimately the overall ownership of the club.
The move would greatly expand Liverpool’s commercial exposure in China, where they are already immensely popular, and also ensure that work could begin on the much delayed new stadium in Stanley Park. Hicks and Gillett had promised that the first spade would be in the ground within 60 days of their takeover.
Huang – who has a number of business and sporting interests in both Asia and the USA – is the head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports Ltd, and was first linked with a bid for Liverpool two years ago. Now though, a source close to the businessman claims that a deal could be done soon.
“A deal has to be done before the transfer window closes [on 31 August],” said the source.
“Huang has made a firm proposal. The club's board has to sanction the sale and it could be sewn up in days. Kenny is the only serious bidder interested in the club and he's optimistic.”
The declaration that Huang would be ready to back new Reds boss Roy Hodgson in the transfer market is sure to please Liverpool supporters, and it is even being claimed that star striker Fernando Torres – linked with big money moves away from the club all summer – has been asked to delay any decision over his future until the outcome of Huang’s interest is known.
Hodgson has been in the Liverpool job for just over a month, and is still evaluating the strength of his squad – he even gave run outs to 15-year-old Raheem Sterling and Jesus Fernandez ‘Suso’ Saez, 16, in yesterday’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany.
The veteran boss has spent just £2million on Scottish defender Danny Wilson so far in his reign, bringing in a further three players – Joe Cole, Milan Jovanović and the re-signed Fábio Aurélio – on free transfers.
With further, quality additions needed – notably both at left-back and in attack – ahead of the new Premier League season, Hodgson is sure to welcome any fresh investment, while Liverpool’s supporters would be delighted to see the backs of both Hicks and Gillett.
A number of supporter protests against the duo have been staged both at Anfield and across the city of Liverpool, with mounting unrest growing amid a lack of progress on the new stadium and increasing levels of debt, as the club haemorrhaged money on interest repayments.
The success of Huang’s bid now hinges upon the price that the pair will ask for the club.
Hicks has been very vocal with his belief that the club is worth around £800million, but business analysts consider that price to be wildly unrealistic, placing the actual cost of the club at less than half of that.
Huang is believed to value Liverpool at around £350million, and with a quick deal likely to benefit all parties ahead of one of the most crucial seasons in the Reds’ history, the belief is growing that the keys to Britain’s most successful football club could soon be about to change hands.
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