New bidder in for Liverpool
The battle for the ownership of Liverpool has intensified with the news that a billionaire from Singapore has stepped in with a new bid.
Peter Lim has offered £320m to buy the club, outstripping the £300m offer by New England Sports Ventures — the owner of Major League Baseball outfit Boston Red Sox — which was accepted by Liverpool chairman
Martin Broughton last week.
Lim said in a statement that: "I respect and admire Liverpool Football Club which is steeped in tradition and history. I am committed to rebuild the club so that it can soon regain its position at the
pinnacle of English and European football, where it truly belongs. This is why I have stepped forward with this offer.”
He added that he would finance manager Roy Hodgson's dealings in the transfer market to try and improve Liverpool’s fortunes on the pitch.
Lim would provide money for transfers
Lim said that: "The club needs to strengthen its existing squad. As part of this offer, I will be injecting £40m in cash into the club for Roy Hodgson to bring in new players during the upcoming transfer
window. Liverpool needs to start winning again. I believe that if its massive debt burden can be removed, the club would be able to focus on improving its performance on the pitch. My offer pays off the existing owners' bank acquisition debt and also frees
the club of its own bank debt."
The offer has come during a time when there is a case taking place at the High Court to resolve a dispute between the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and the rest of the board.
Hicks and Gillett were said to be furious that the sale to NESV had been sanctioned as they had been looking to sell the club for almost double the offer made by that group. They had gone as far as trying
to replace the other members of the board in a bid to cling on to power.
Royal Bank of Scotland, which is the club’s largest creditor and could take over control of Liverpool is a sale is not completed by the end of this week, is seeking an injunction against the American pair
to stop them from trying to replace managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.
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