Syrian claims pole position in Liverpool takeover race
Liverpool could be well on their way to being in new hands by the time they kick off their Premier League season on Sunday afternoon, according to the Syrian businessman fronting a consortium ready to buy the Reds.
Yahya Kirdi and a group of investors from the Middle East claim to have moved ahead of the other bidders – most notably Kenny Huang and his Chinese group – in the running, and there are reports that an agreement in principle has been reached, and that the first contract – not a final takeover deal – will be signed before Liverpool take on Arsenal at Anfield this weekend.
Current co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are known to favour Kirdi’s bid above the numerous others that have emerged, and the Americans are said to be ready to meet with the Canada-based Kirdi and his investors.
The consortium would have to give guarantees that they could pay off all of Liverpool’s debts to both the Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wells Fargo, while also providing proof that they would have the funds necessary for the long-delayed new stadium at Stanley Park. Kirdi’s group are believed to have no qualms about making such promises.
Kirdi, a former Syrian international player, is not – as has been reported – a billionaire, but is merely, as one source put it, “well off”, but the businessman’s group are certainly wealthy, and would be able to back boss Roy Hodgson in the transfer market.
Huang’s group still consider themselves favourites to complete a deal though, although confusion reigns over whether or not his QSL Sports Ltd are backed by the Chinese Government’s China Investment Corporation, with weekend claims that such a move would be “highly unlikely” from CIC, who tend to locate their business interests elsewhere.
The Subrata Roy-fronted Indian Sahara Group – first linked with a takeover in February – dropped out of the running at the weekend, meaning that it is looking increasingly likely that the saga has now become a two-horse race between Kirdi and Huang.
Chairman Martin Broughton continues to oversee the sale alongside Barclays Capital, and has been at pains to stress that the club will accept an offer that is in their best interests, and not the offer that will make them the most money.
Hicks and Gillett support the Kirdi bid because it stands to make them a profit though, whereas Huang has insisted that his will not.
But the final ownership decision isn’t in the Americans’ hands, as votes from the remainder of Liverpool’s five-man board – Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre – will have the final say. Should the trio outvote the Americans three to two, then there is nothing that the co-owners can do about it.
With both Kirdi and Huang looking unlikely to waver in their interest, the race continues, and whether or not it will have reached a conclusion by the time the Reds kick off against the Gunners on Sunday afternoon is unclear.
As unclear as virtually everything else in this saga.
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