Liverpool in talks with potential buyer
Liverpool are in negotiations with a potential buyer for the Anfield side, it was revealed today.
Keith Harris, whose investment company Seymour Pierce has been advising an unnamed group interested in buying the Reds, told the London Evening Standard that he was not getting carried away after seeing takeover bids for Everton, Newcastle United and Manchester United collapse. He also cited a failed bid from Kuwaiti Nasser Al Khorafi two years ago for Liverpool as a reason for not getting his hopes up.
However, Harris said that: "The overseas buyer we represent has completed due diligence. A huge amount of work has been done." Should the deal go through, it will cost his client between £400-500m to purchase Liverpool, while the buyer will have to clear their £351.4m debt and fund manager Roy Hodgson’s attempts to strengthen his squad in the transfer market.
Unnamed client
Harris would not reveal the name of the buyer he is helping to buy the club. He said that: "It is none of the groups mentioned in the press. The ball is now in our client's court to make an offer. I do not think the deal will be done before the transfer window closes this month but the next pressure point is October when some of the RBS loan of £237m has to be repaid. It may happen then. But in the present climate these things are impossible to predict."
Former Football League chairman Harris played a part in helping buyers take over other English Premier League clubs, including Aston Villa, West Ham United and Manchester City.
Co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks placed the English Premier League club on the market earlier this year. They had looked to sell to former Wall Street broker Kenny Huang — allegedly with the backing of the Chinese government — before he called a halt to talks last week.
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