EPL: Liverpool to re-emerge after takeover
The drama regarding the takeover of Liverpool football club by new owners seems to be over, as their five member board decided to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) on Tuesday. However, as three of the board members were in favour, the current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks did their best to block such a move.
Liverpool is under a lot of financial stress, as the club owns around £282 million to Royal Bank of Scotland. The new deal is worth £300 million, which would cover a major portion of debt, while it would also cover the investments of current owners. However, Gillett and Hicks are against such a move because they would not make any profits from this take-over. Nevertheless, Liverpool’s chairman, Martin Broughton, announced that the sale has been finalized, after scrutinizing two best bids. John W Henry’s company NESV has been successful in winning the bid for a much awaited takeover.
The swift action regarding the sale was taken after a date of 15 October was set by RBS for a repayment of refinancing £282 million loan. The current owners were trying to overcome this problem by taking a loan from a different financing corporation. Otherwise, it was rumoured that RBS would take control of the club in case of the Duo’s failure to repay the loan. Hence, the drama had to be resolved before such a thing happened, which could have thrown Liverpool in further turmoil.
However, the deal is still taking a little time because of the current owners, who are doing everything to prevent the takeover. In this regard, the current American owners tried to remove Liverpool’s chief executive Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre. Hicks and Gillett believed that they were not given the right value of Liverpool. Hence, they tried to stage a kind of a coup d’état in the boardroom. However, these efforts were fruitless, as the problem of sale was finalized at the end of board meeting.
Martin Broughton arranged a press conference on Tuesday delivering the great news to Liverpool fans. The current owners had already lost popularity among the Reds fans, because of their lack of interest in club’s achievements. Even recently there were some protests arranged by the fans, denouncing the owners and club’s situation. However, Broughton’s remarks were a reassurance for the fans, as he said that the deal would finalize within a week, after fighting a lawsuit by Hicks and Gillett and getting approval from Premier League.
Broughton also painted a rosy picture for the fans, as he discussed the situation under new owners. He believed that NESV would invest in a new stadium for Liverpool, and would bring success to the club. Already, NESV is considered as a successful firm in sports business, especially after their achievements for Boston Red Sox. If NESV applies the same winning formula on Liverpool, nothing but improvement is expected in the future.
Liverpool is facing a lot of problems in English Premier League, as they are failing to live up to the standards of their past. Currently, they are in the bottom three of the table, with only one win in seven matches. So, it was feared that the new owners would change the manager as well, because Roy Hodgson is failing in his duty. However, it has already been cleared that Hodgson would retain his position, while he will be tested in next matches. Hodgson has claimed on many occasions that Liverpool would not improve unless a new owner comes. So, when the takeover is complete, Hodgson would have to improve his results. If he fails to do so, then it would be his incompetency, which means that he would no longer retain his job.
Nevertheless, amidst all the problems and disasters, this is finally good news for Liverpool fans. However, the Reds enthusiasts would be keeping their fingers crossed, while they would wait the resolution of this deal quicker than possible. With NESV in charge of Liverpool affairs, fans would also be hoping to regain their lost prestige in English Premier League.
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