Net closes around Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s ‘toxic’ Liverpool ownership
Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s troubled ownership of Liverpool looks like having less than a month to run after the Royal Bank of Scotland placed the club’s loans into its toxic-assets division.
The move shows that RBS’s patience with the Americans has finally run out, following the pair’s raft of refinancing proposals – the latest of which was overruled by Reds chairman Martin Broughton in June – and their continuing stubborn approach towards a potential sale of the club.
Liverpool – or more precisely Kop Football Holdings, the club’s parent company – owed RBS £237.4million in July last year, and it is safe to assume that that figure has risen significantly in the past 15 months.
Now, the bank will use the date of October 6th – which was always ringed in red ink on the Americans’ calendar due to it representing the deadline where they had to once again refinance their personal loans – to force them into a sale, if one hasn’t been concluded before that.
RBS have moved Liverpool into their “bad bank”, and they are about to get tough. A source close to Liverpool’s dealings with them said: “If it has been taken out of the hands of the corporate banking department they'll [RBS] have a much more ruthless approach on October 6th.”
While RBS hope to achieve a quick, safe sale without having to take control of the club, they will come under pressure from the Americans if they attempt to make them sell at a knockdown price. However, Hicks and Gillett may soon have no choice, as RBS do have the power to place Kop Football Holdings, and therefore the club, into administration. They appear very unlikely to do that though, with some even suggesting that they will be willing to accept a lower value than the debt they are actually owed in a bid to rid themselves of association with the Americans.
How Liverpool supporters wish that they too could sever ties with the pair.
There will be cautious optimism on Merseyside at RBS’s new, steely stance – indeed some supporters groups have been contacting the bank in a bid to make them do just that – but not until every trace of Hicks and Gillett has been removed from Anfield will there be dancing in the streets outside the famous old ground.
The bank’s new approach will please supporters – not least because it looks set to leave the credit-crunched pair severely out of pocket – as, while the fanciful idea that the duo have never put their own money into the club is wrong, the facts that Liverpool are severely in debt, have just been forced into making a profit on transfers for the fourth successive transfer window, are lacking the squad to compete for the Premier League title, and have tumbled out of the Champions League are there for all to see.
There are several interested parties in the Reds, although a clear favourite is not yet evident.
What is clear though, is that this whole sorry saga appears to be nearing an end, as the isolated Americans now have no more friends left to call on.
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