APRIL 12
RBS sets six month deadline
for Liverpool FC sell off

By Neil Hodgson - Liverpool Echo

Liverpool FC’s American owners are set to be given another six months to find a new buyer for the club.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to extend a deadline on Liverpool FC’s outstanding loan, taking the pressure off owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett – and avoiding the need for a rapid “fire” sale.

The move to ease the financial burden on the club’s two American owners will buy them valuable time in their bid to find a buyer, though is unlikely to please fans who want them out.

Liverpool has outstanding loans of £237m and its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and American bank Wachovia, had demanded a £100m repayment by this July.

But the ECHO understands moves are under way at RBS to extend the deadline by up to six months, allowing the club time to seek new investment.

Weekend reports claimed that Premier League sponsor Barclays Bank was set to make a shock intervention and provide a refinancing package that would replace Liverpool’s current lenders and eventually lead to a sale of the Anfield club.

This is not the case.

But this week the Americans should officially confirm the club is up for sale and that they want to sell it all rather than keep a stake themselves.

The club has appointed Barclays Capital to lead the search for new investors to buy the business and fund the development of its proposed new stadium in Stanley Park.

The ECHO also revealed on Saturday that the club is set to appoint British Airways chairman Martin Broughton as an independent chairman.

His appointment – due to be sealed within days – and that of Barclays Capital are not linked.

But financial sources say any investor considering a move for Liverpool “would look favourably on having someone of his stature on board”.

And they said that an extension to the loan repayment deadline by RBS would remove the refinancing issue, therefore enabling the club to avoid a “fire sale” situation in its dealings with potential investors.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool from majority shareholder David Moores in 2007 for £219m.

However, they incorporated their borrowings into the club’s debt and the interest costs on the loans post-credit crunch have crippled the club financially.

Barclays Capital declined to comment, as did Liverpool Football Club.

APRIL 11
Barclays steps in
to save Liverpool FC

Sunday Times

Liverpool football club looks set to be sold as Barclays finalise a £300m rescue deal this weekend.

Fans had feared about the club’s ability to compete at the top level after its financial problems contributed to it losing its status as one of Britain’s “big four” clubs. It has outstanding loans of £237m.

Supporters will be relieved at the intervention, which will also provide extra spending money for Rafa Benitez, the club manager.

The new owner will be sought by Barclays Capital, the bank’s investment arm. The deal will displace the club’s current lenders and bring in as chairman British Airways’ Martin Broughton.

Supporters had campaigned to remove the club’s owners, the American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who had disagreed over its funding and publicly argued with Benitez over spending on players.

An adviser working on the deal said: “The club’s finances are improving. It just needs breathing space to get itself into shape before it is sold.”

Barclays’ move highlights English football’s troubled finances. Several clubs are struggling with high player wages and crippling debts. This year Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to go into administration.

Foreign owners who bought in at the height of the football boom, often saddling the clubs they bought with debt, have proved increasingly unpopular with fans. Manchester United supporters want to oust the Glazer family, the American investors who bought the club in 2005.

APRIL 11
Liverpool step up
search for fresh investment

By Dan Roan - BBC Sport Online

Liverpool are set to appoint a new chairman and ask a new bank to lead their search for fresh investment, BBC Sport understands.

Martin Broughton has been approached, with the British Airways chairman considering forming part of a restructured board at Anfield.

Barclays Capital, the bank's investment arm, will head the latest attempt to find a new buyer for the club.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are ready to step down as co-chairmen.

The Americans believe that by presenting a united front, potential investors are more likely to be found.

Broughton has previously chaired the British Horseracing Board, and is a lifelong Chelsea fan.

He is also a former chairman of British American Tobacco, and the Confederation of British Industry.

Hicks and Gillett were seen together at Anfield for the first time in almost six months for Liverpool's 4-1 win over Benfica in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday and have been holding talks over the club's future.

Last week, the American pair rejected a £100m offer for a 40% stake in the club by the Rhone Group, a New-York based private equity firm, to the dismay of manager Rafa Benitez.

Liverpool have been asked by its principal creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to reduce their £237m debt by around £100m, with the current lending arrangement running until this summer, although that could now be postponed.

A further refinancing deal, and the construction of a new stadium, depends on fresh capital being found.

The club's managing director, Christian Purslow, has been trying to find new investors for several months with the help of investment banks Merrill Lynch and Rothschilds.

APRIL 9
Hicks and Gillett
consider stepping aside

By Paul Kelso - The Daily Telegraph

Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are considering appointing an independent chairman at Anfield and have sounded out leading business figures, including British Airways chairman Martin Broughton, about taking on the role, Telegraph Sport can disclose.

The appointment of an independent chairman is understood to be one of a number of options discussed by the Americans during three days of substantive talks with their advisers in London.

Hicks and Gillett co-chair the Liverpool board but are considering stepping aside in favour of a well-respected independent figure. Such a move would make sense if they were successful in finding a minority investor to help reduce the £237 million debt, but it is understood they will consider standing down even if they do not sell a stake in the club.

While they would still remain in control of Liverpool, a figure of the stature of Broughton would increase their appeal to potential investors and draw some of the sting from criticism of the Americans' stewardship of the club.

It is unclear if Broughton would be interested in the role or have time to do it, given the pressures BA is under. As well as the industrial dispute with the cabin crew’s union, Unite, the airline is closing on a merger with Spanish national carrier Iberia.

Broughton, who joined BA in 2004, has considerable sporting pedigree, having chaired the British Horseracing Board from 2004-07. He was chairman of British American Tobacco when it launched the BAR Formula One team and he has taken an interest in the 2012 Olympic project.

Hicks and Gillett arrived in London on Tuesday and have held talks with advisers, including respected City lawyers Freshfields Bruckhaus , before travelling to Anfield for the Europa League tie against Benfica. They are thought to be considering a range of options, from selling a minority stake to the outright disposal of the club.

The discussions are taking place ahead of the looming summer deadline for the owners to re-finance Liverpool's £237 million debts with banks RBS and Wachovia. RBS, the principal lender, has requested that the owners reduce the debt by £100 million ahead of the June 31 deadline.

With that in mind club managing director Christian Purslow, Rothschilds and Merrill Lynch, the advisers retained by Gillett and Hicks, respectively, have been engaged in a global search for third-party investment for months.

Hicks's presence in London suggests the talks are significant. He has often delegated responsibility for negotiations to senior figures in his family company Hicks Holdings, including former executive vice-president Casey Coffman, who dealt with Rafael Benitez's contract talks last year and joined the Liverpool board after Tom Hicks Jnr's resignation.

Coffman, who is still listed as a director at Anfield, has recently left the Hicks group to take up a senior role at Madison Square Garden in New York, however, leaving Hicks to take a more hands-on role.

Purslow has previously said that five or six interested parties are still in play and sources have suggested that some of these are interested in a deal to buy the whole club. Any buyer is likely to wait and see if Liverpool qualify for the Champions League before closing any deal, however.

The Rhone Group, a New York-based private equity fund, tabled a £105 million bid for a 40 per cent stake in the club last month, but a deadline for the deal to be accepted passed on Monday.

The price, as ever, will make or break any deal. Hicks and Gillett have previously maintained that any investor or buyer would have to pay a price that reflected Liverpool's potential increase in value after the new Anfield, which is yet to leave the drawing board, is built.

APRIL 7
Hicks and Gillett in London
to discuss refinancing

By Paul Kelso - Telegraph.co.uk

As Liverpool prepare to try and stay in the Europa League this week the club’s owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been in London discussing their next financial move, and considering the implications should Rafael Benitez fail to deliver on his promise to steer the club into next season’s Champions League.

I understand that the American owners, enjoying a rare joint visit to the UK, spent yesterday afternoon at the London client offices of leading City lawyers Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. By co-incidence Freshfields partner Mark Rawlinson is one of the ‘Red Knights’ plotting the purchase of Manchester United from the Glazers.

Hicks and Gillett have faced similar supporter disquiet over their ownership of Liverpool and are attempting to re-finance the club’s £237m debts. RBS, their principle lender, has requested that they reduce the debt by £100m ahead of a refinancing deadline in the summer.

Rothschilds and Merryl Lynch, the advisors retained by Gillett and Hicks respectively, and club managing director Christian Purslow have been engaged in a global search for third-party investment for months but a deal is yet to be struck. The deadline for a £105m offer from New York-based investors the Rhone Group, who were hoping to secure a 40% stake in the club, passed on Monday.

Sources close to the owners say that yesterday’s talks were a general discussion of the owners’ options rather than focused on a specific deal. “There’s nothing imminent,” said one.

Purslow has previously said that five or six interested parties are still in play but it appears that all are some distance from meeting the Americans’ valuation. Hicks and Gillett have previously maintained that any third-party investor would have to pay a price that reflects the club’s potential increase in value after the new Anfield, which is yet to leave the drawing board, is built.

With the credit markets still depressed and the RBS deadline looming it may be harder for the owners to meet their valuation, but that does not mean refinancing will fail.

While RBS would like to see the debt come down it is still highly likely that the bank would offer the Americans a fresh deal. The downside for Hicks and Gillett, as they seek yet another short-term fix to their problems at Anfield, is that such a deal would cost significantly more in fees and interest.

If they succeed it will be the third time in as many years that they have had to strike a new deal with the banks, racking up fees every time. The need for a long-term solution that allows work on the new stadium to begin remains.

APRIL 6
Investors hope Liverpool miss
top four to make bargain buy

tribalfootball.com

Potential investors are holding back on making serious contact with Liverpool.

The Independent says a bid of £110m by New York-based fund management company Rhone Group to take a controlling share in Liverpool appeared effectively to have been rejected last night.

Investment community analysts believe that Liverpool hoped the interest of Rhone, who have been unwilling to discuss their bid, might have flushed out a better offer. But while two other prospective investors are believed to be in the wings, no alternative bids are on the table at the Easter target date identified by Liverpool managing director, Christian Purslow, for finding a new equity partner.

One source with insider knowledge of Liverpool's search for new investors has suggested several are delaying offers while they wait to see if non-qualification drives down the price.

"Qualification is not necessarily the best outcome for would-be investors," the source said.

APRIL 6
Liverpool miss out on
Rhone Group investment bid

By Soccernet staff

The New York-based fund management company had made a £110 million bid for a controlling stake in Liverpool, but imposed a three-week deadline on talks that has now expired, according to a report in the Independent.

Liverpool are still faced with debts of around £100 million to the Royal Bank of Scotland and are searching for investment that would help get them back onto sound financial ground, however the club's decision not to continue talks with Rhone suggest that they believe they can get a better deal elsewhere.

Talks are thought to have stalled over negotiations regarding the overall control of the club. Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are keen to combine their shares and maintain a 60% stake, while selling off the other 40%, but Rhone want assurances that this will not happen written into any potential deal.

Now the Easter target date identified by Liverpool managing director, Christian Purslow, for finding a new equity partner appears to have past with no new investors showing interest and analysts in the City are speculating over the possible price of the club if they do not finish in the top four at the end of the season.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League would be a significant blow financially as it brings an additional £20 million annual revenue and the value of the club - currently at £500 million - could be damaged, with any new investors able to get a cut-price deal if they wait a few months more.

APRIL 4
Rhone Group press Liverpool for
answer to £110m investment offer

By Rory Smith - Telegraph.co.uk

The deadline set by the Rhone Group for Liverpool to accept a £110 million offer to take a 40 per cent stake in the Anfield club expires on Monday, with the only concrete proposal received by current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett in their search for fresh investment likely to be effectively rejected.

Rhone became the first suitor to show their hand when the New York-based fund management firm, run by billionaires Robert Agostinelli and Steven Langman, presented their offer to Liverpool in the early hours of March 13.

It is believed they informed the club they expected to discover whether their bid had been successful by April 5.

There has been no further contact between the parties and Telegraph Sport understands that Rhone are not prepared to extend that deadline.

Though it is believed Rhone's offer met Liverpool's valuation, it is thought the level of control they hoped to acquire for their stake as well as the nature of their investment has proved a stumbling block. Hicks is believed to be particularly resistant to seeing his stake being decreased.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, had met with representatives of the group to discuss their plans for the club and it is believed he had kept senior players, including Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres – who has been unequivocal in his demands for Liverpool's owners to back Benítez in the transfer market this summer – abridged of developments.

That Rhone's deadline – barring an unexpected and unlikely turnaround in the next 24 hours – will pass with no progress made will no doubt come as a blow to those attracted by the group's promise of a £25 million infusion of funds for transfers, but it is far from the only cause for concern for a club whose immediate future remains clouded.

On the pitch, Liverpool know they must beat Birmingham at St Andrews on Sunday to maintain the pressure on Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League. Off it, sadly, matters are far more complicated.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, Liverpool's bankers, have informed Hicks and Gillett that they must reduce their £237 million debt burden by £100 million by July if they are to be granted a deal to refinance their loans.

Christian Purslow, Liverpool's managing director and the man charged with securing a cash infusion to reduce the debt, has consistently identified Easter as the time by which he "hoped" to have a deal agreed with an outside investor to bring an end to the stagnancy induced at Anfield by the current, unpopular regime and to enable work to begin again on the long-awaited new stadium on Stanley Park.

Though sources at the club insist that was more guideline than deadline, that the holiday period will pass with Liverpool no closer to securing their financial future will hardly inspire confidence for Benítez's squad or the club's fans.

Sources at Anfield, though, remain confident of attracting the required investment "in good time" for the club's loans to be refinanced.

As many as "six or seven" serious investors were believed to be looking at matching or bettering Rhone's offer three weeks ago and noises emanating from the club suggest that as many as two of those are expected to materialise into firm proposals.

What is not in doubt, though, is that Liverpool are reaching their end game.

MARCH 18
Gillett and Hicks given
three weeks to accept £100m deal

By Ian Herbert - Irish Independent

Liverpool's American owners are under more financial pressure to settle their debts than has previously been thought, with the New York-based company bidding to take control of the club imposing a three-week deadline to take or leave their offer.

The Rhone Group's proposed £100m investment for a 40pc share would enable the Liverpool chief executive, Christian Purslow, to deliver the entire sum to the Royal Bank of Scotland, the club's bankers, to pay down £100m of debt as the bank has demanded.

However, the time pressures the club currently faces are also compounded by the fact that Liverpool appear to have just 20 days to deliver some of that £100m figure to the bank.

The presumption had always been that the deadline is July, by which time the club's current debt facility expires and must be renegotiated.

Liverpool's predicament appears to leave Rhone Group's partners Steve Langman and Robert Agostinelli in a strong position to take over a controlling stake -- despite having offered a price which values the club at a half of the £500m Tom Hicks and George Gillett rejected from Dubai International Capital two years ago.

There are currently no other prospective buyers lined up for Liverpool.

Liverpool indicated last night that there was no precise deadline date for repaying the £100m and that there is some degree of leeway. The ultimate sanction would be RBS taking over, although that is highly unlikely as RBS is a state-owned bank.

Running a Premier League club is not high on the agenda of a bank which announced a £2.6bn operating loss for the last financial year. But the endgame for Hicks and Gillett is certainly far closer than has been appreciated.

Liverpool fans have witnessed too many false dawns to harbour illusions about the latest possible saviours to be linked to their football club, but they can perhaps be forgiven that there is some serious money around this time.

Rhone Group's senior partners include Robert Agostinelli, whose ex-wife Mathilde is a senior executive at Prada. He is an acquaintance of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and has spoken with deference about Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. Both Agostinelli and Steve Langman, another partner at Rhone, have invested in the Republican presidential campaigns of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

But the new names issuing around the environs of L4 are actually in a different bracket to many of those that have been sounded before.

These two are no billionaires and certainly not in the same stratosphere as those -- from Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Indians Mukesh Ambani and Subrata Roy -- who have been linked with the club before in these turbulent past few years.

The Rhone Group, with offices in New York, Paris and London, has an annual turnover of just £5.9m according to its most recent accounts.

The critical factor is that the firm is not in possession of the funds it invests. Like any fund management outfit, it invests cash for others -- be it pension funds or the savings of high net worth individuals.

It was the fund management arm of Rhone Group which tabled a proposal at midnight on Friday with Liverpool FC, a "distressed" business, as it sees it, and one which should yield a cash return in the medium term.

Some supporters at Liverpool may feel that they do not covet these individuals as new proprietors. Agostinelli is an individual who once described Berlusconi as "a leader who will save the country" and who also once suggested that "the left is a cancer that needs to be eradicated".

The spirit of Shankly this is most certainly not.

But if Rhone Group does turn out to be the majority shareholder at Liverpool, don't expect the imprimatur of the two partners to be all over the club.

Rhone's investors are looking at Liverpool as "just another business deal", according to one source familiar with the outfit.

Their other recent ventures have included financing for the clothes firm Quiksilver, putting money into the toy chain Early Learning Centre, and part-owning the aluminium company Almatis, which Rhone then sold, incidentally, to a former Liverpool suitor, Dubai International Capital.

With a portfolio as diverse as that, Rhone's partners are certainly not going to be willing to tolerate Tom Hicks and George Gillett commanding a controlling stake in the club.

One of the mysteries of their proposed investment -- the figure varies from £80m to £115m according to who you talk to -- is why they would be willing to put so much money in for a 40pc share, only to face the prospect of Hicks and Gillett banding together to form a 60pc controlling influence.

The details of any agreement signed off between Rhone and Liverpool would settle that. It is likely that Hicks and Gillett would have to agree to be sleeping partners, although it is understood that Agostinelli and Langman would not be seeking active involvement in the running of the club -- as the current American incumbents have.

Remoteness need not be a bad outcome. If Purslow can resolve the £100m issue, he can set about rescheduling his club's debts over three years on better terms, rather than the sequence of 12-month arrangements which seems to make every June an anxious time at Anfield, and there is confidence that if the club can be put on more secure financial footing in this way, then further capital can be secured to build the new Stanley Park stadium which has been the key to the club's financial future for so long.

The suggestions are that Rhone Group would buy into that idea.

Needless to say, Hicks and Gillett have not expressed any great delight about Rhone Group, though the plight the club are now in does not give them room for manoeuvre with RBS.

The future of the club is in the hands of Purslow, whom RBS see as the individual to deliver back some of the money they are owed.

MARCH 15
Rhone Group bid for Liverpool FC
could lead to more offers

By Dominic King - Liverpool Echo

A firm bid to buy a major stake in Liverpool FC could lead to other offers from around the world arriving within weeks.

American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are now deciding whether to dilute their controversial ownership of the Reds after the club received a formal offer of more than £100m in fresh investment.

The offer – a strategic long-term plan put forward by the Rhone Group – is being seen as a £110m plus vote of confidence in Liverpool Football Club and its future.

If Hicks and Gillett do accept it would mean Liverpool’s annual interest payments on the loan the pair placed on the club would reduce from more than £30m to around £15m per year.

The Rhone Group is a global private equity firm with bases in London, Paris and New York.

Fund executives have been in talks with the Reds for a number of weeks and have now put together an offer that would see them take a 40% stake in the club.

That offer was formally delivered in the very early hours of Saturday morning.

A period of due diligence is now underway. It is not expected to take long to complete – and if their offer is accepted it would dramatically improve Liverpool’s financial position.

But the ECHO understands hopes are now high at Anfield that this new bid - for what could actually turn out to be a controlling interest in Liverpool – may see other potential investors also coming forward and putting their cards on the table.

Rhone’s move marks a significant turn of events in the saga. It is the first firm offer Liverpool have received to end the impasse between Hicks and Gillett.

It is also a sign the ongoing efforts of managing director Christian Purslow to bring in new investors may be coming to fruition.

Purslow took over from outgoing chief executive officer Rick Parry last year.

The Harvard and Cambridge graduate, who has a history in the banking and finance industry, has been surveying potential bidders and weighing up their credentials since then.

Should they be successful the Rhone Group would pay off almost half the club’s current £237m debt with its own capital.

It is stressed they would not be borrowing to do the deal – nor would any of the money go to Hicks or Gillett.

It would simply go straight to the club and the halving of the debt would in turn mean the interest payments they are having to pay annually would be dramatically cut – which would create a better working transfer budget for manager Rafa Benitez in the summer.

Liverpool’s board – which includes Purslow, commercial director Ian Ayre and finance director Philip Nash – will now meet to discuss the proposal.

But Hicks and Gillett, as the major shareholders, will have the ultimate say on whether the proposal is accepted.

The early indications from sources close to the Hicks family is that it will be rejected as the Rhone Group’s offer is below what they are looking for. But, should they pursue that, it could prove to be very risky.

The Royal Bank of Scotland wants a solution and resolution to Liverpool’s debt before July when the terms of the current re-financing deal expire. And pressure is now mounting on them.

As there are only four months left before the RBS call time Hicks and Gillett must decide whether to plough their own furrow for fresh investment – a tactic that has so far been unsuccessful – or wait to see if Purslow can deliver an alternative to the Rhone Group.

Purslow said in an interview with the ECHO in January he was “confident and optimistic that in the next couple of months one of them will be brought to fruition”. And the Rhone Group are prepared to wait for an answer.

Some supporters will be understandably sceptical about the Rhone Group’s motives. It was claimed yesterday Roberto Agostinelli – who founded the company with Steven Langman in 1997 – numbers George Bush among his friends.

Given Hicks’ links to Bush it could, a first glance, appear to be a “carve up” between friends.

But the perception that Agostinelli moves in the same circles as Hicks – and is a billionaire – are both wrong. He spends the majority of his time in Europe.

Agostinelli is a friend of French leader Nicolas Sarkozy and in August 2007 he and wife, Marthe, who is in charge of communications for Prada-France, invited the French prime minister and his wife Carla Bruni to share a holiday villa in the United States.

The Rhone Group are described as being “conservative investors” and they do not load prospective projects up with debt. Nor, for that matter, do they make short-term investments. The intention is to help get the club back on a stable footing.

It would be their first investment in sport but the chance to become involved with “an iconic football club” is something that appeals; their intentions are serious to help Liverpool and representatives are understood to have met with Benitez already.

Liverpool have been linked with a number of would-be investors in recent months, most recently the Indian billionaire Subrata Roy, who was said to be pursuing a majority 51% stake in the club.

It must be stressed, though, that there is no guarantee the Rhone Group’s bid to invest in Liverpool will be successful and everything remains in the hands of Hicks and Gillett.

Liverpool officials remained tight-lipped today on the developments but are understood to be encouraged that this is the first serious proposal they have received.

The club have set a Easter deadline for would-be investors to show their hands – but it could be that this triggers a few more to step forward.

MARCH 14
Investment firm Rhone Group make
offer to cut Liverpool FC's debts

Liverpool Echo

Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been offered a way of relieving the financial pressure at Liverpool after global investment firm the Rhone Group made a £100million-plus offer for a 40% stake in the club.

Liverpool’s co-owners have been looking for an injection of cash to help reduce the current level of debt leveraged on the club.

When they successfully renegotiated the terms of their loan with the Royal Bank of Scotland last summer one requirement was that they had to cut £100million off the £237million debt.

Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow set a deadline of Easter to have secured new finance.

After much speculation over the source of potential investors, it is understood the submission from the Rhone Group is the first genuine offer to be received.

If the offer is accepted by Hicks and Gillett it would considerably strengthen the club’s financial position.

The people behind the Rhone Group bid have been keen to stress that the offer comes in the form of fresh money - not borrowed - which would immediately be used to slash Liverpool’s debt by nearly half.

That would have the effect of immediately making the Merseysiders a more attractive option for outside investment.

It would also dramatically reduce the £30million a year interest payments to service the debt and improve the club’s appeal to lenders, which could, in turn, lead to cash being secured to finally begin work on the long-awaited new stadium in Stanley Park.

If successful the Rhone Group’s bid would give them the controlling interest in the club, with Hicks and Gillett reducing their shareholding to 30% each.

Details of the offer were only received by Liverpool yesterday and the matter has yet to be discussed at board level.

There have been suggestions today that the American co-owners are looking for a better price but with the clock ticking on the time they have to meets RBS’ requirements it may yet prove to be a viable option.

Founded in 1995, the Rhone Group have their headquarters in New York, although sources close to the bid have assured Liverpool fans vehemently opposed to Hicks and Gillett that this should not be seen in any way as another American investment.

The group have other offices in London and Paris, where one of its two owners Robert Agostinelli currently lives, and are considered a global company rather than solely US-based.

Sources also tried to reassure fans concerned about a private equity company buying into the club by stating Rhone have a reputation for being conservative investors and are not short-term opportunists.

WHO ARE THE RHONE GROUP?
Founded in 1995, the group are headed by Robert Agostinelli and Steven Langman who, contrary to reports, are not American billionaires but just very wealthy financiers. Although their headquarters are in New York, the group also have offices in London and Paris and describes itself as “one of the world’s leading mid-market private equity firms.”

WHAT IS THEIR PLAN?
To buy a controlling interest - 40% - in Liverpool at a cost of £100million-plus. The money would be in the form of a cash payment which would not place any further debt on the club and would, in fact, reduce Liverpool’s £237million liabilities by nearly half.

WHY LIVERPOOL?
Despite their on-field problems this season, Liverpool remain a globally-recognised brand with endless marketing opportunities. In spite of their huge debt, the club made a profit last year and if the Rhone Group’s investment helps hurry along a new 60,000-seater stadium another huge income stream will be opened up.

HOW WOULD THEY RUN THE CLUB?
It is not entirely clear at the moment, but, considering the lack of investment by current co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, they could not do much worse. However, with a potential 40-30-30 split of shares it may make decision-making even more complicated. Despite the truce between Hicks and Gillett it seems unlikely they would side with each other in the boardroom.

DO THEY HAVE SUPPORT?
The reaction has been mixed in fans forums. Many are wary of another American investor - although the company have been keen to stress they are a global operation and not US-based - and the words “private equity” are never likely to be welcomed by football fans who think with their hearts and not their heads. On the flip side, so desperate are supporters for investment to catch up with Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City, that anyone who can bring money to the table is seen by many as a saviour.

WHAT CHANCE DOES THE BID HAVE OF SUCCEEDING?
It will all come down to whether Hicks and Gillett are willing to accept the price and the loss of a controlling interest. Murmurings from the Hicks camp have already suggested the Texan feels the offer is on the low side. However, the co-owners have an obligation to Royal Bank of Scotland to slice £100million off their debt by the summer and, if no other bids are forthcoming, then Rhone Group’s offer may be their only option.

FEBRUARY 10
Sahara owner Subrata Roy
steps up Liverpool takeover plans

tribalfootball.com

Subrata Roy is intensifying his plans to takeover Liverpool, it has been revealed.

The Times says a spokesman for Sahara, the Indian tycoon’s company, declined to comment on the takeover attempt yesterday, but sources in India confirmed the interest while saying that discussions were at an early stage.

Roy’s bid was revealed yesterday, along with a rival offer from Mukesh Ambani. Reliance Industries, Ambani’s company, issued a denial yesterday, but The Times reports India’s wealthiest man remains in the background as a potential investor. Both bids offered to take on Liverpool’s £237 million debt in exchange for 51 per cent of the club.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are unlikely to accept such terms, although pressure on the co-owners from Royal Bank of Scotland to pay off £100 million of the debt by July is growing. The bank has become increasingly frustrated by the failure of the Americans to bring new investment to Anfield.

Roy is the son of a sugar mill worker. He founded Sahara in 1978 with £5 and a scooter used to zip between clients in the poor northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It is now one of India’s largest savings groups and forms the bedrock of a sprawling conglomerate worth more than £5 billion.

The entrepreneur styles himself “chairman and Managing Worker” and Sahara sponsors the India cricket team. It also backs the national hockey side and has made an “emotional commitment towards betterment of sports in India”, in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. The group was rumoured to be looking at replacing AIG as Manchester United’s shirt sponsor.

FEBRUARY 9
Ambani Reds bid denied

Sky Sports

India's wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani denied reports that he is in the running to buy a controlling stake in Premier League giants Liverpool.

It was suggested that Ambani was one of two tycoons from the sub-continent competing to buy a share in the Anfield club with Tom Hicks and George Gillet Jr under pressure to sell.

Ambani's Reliance Industries and Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy had reportedly each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool's £237million (€270) debts in return for a 51 percent stake in the club.

However, Ambani, the world's seventh-richest man, has rubbished the report that they are interested in investing in the Merseysiders.

"There is no truth to the report. We deny it completely," Reliance spokeswoman Sudeep Purkayastha stated.

The newspaper said Roy's interest in Liverpool appeared "more serious", although his Sahara conglomerate said it could neither confirm nor deny that a bid was in the offing.

"We are presently not in a position to comment," explained Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar.

FEBRUARY 4
Hicks ponders sale of Dallas Stars

TEAMtalk

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is looking into the possibility of selling his NHL ice hockey team the Dallas Stars.

The Hicks Sports Group (HSG) confirmed Galatioto Sports Partners have been retained to examine the possibility of securing new investors or selling a majority stake in the franchise.

Last month, HSG announced they had reached a definitive agreement to sell Major League Baseball side the Texas Rangers for about £360million.

It appears Hicks is trying to re-organise his finances on a major scale but what this latest announcement means for Liverpool remains to be seen.

Recent reports suggest Liverpool require a £100million cash injection before the summer or Hicks and co-owner George Gillett will face a decision over whether to sell the club when the current debt-refinancing agreement ends in July.

It has been claimed the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia - the banks with whom Liverpool currently have a refinancing deal - are putting pressure on the club to find new investment to help better manage their reported £237million of debt.

Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow has been tasked with finding the new investment and is in talks with five or six potential suitors.

Any investment would be used to reduce the club's debts and would result in Hicks and Gillett's ownership share being diluted.

Regarding Hicks' NHL franchise, Dallas Stars president Jeff Cogen said: "While a sale is not a certainty it is a possibility and Mr Hicks has received numerous inquiries about the team."

FEBRUARY 2
Reds in the hunt for new investors

TEAMtalk

Liverpool hope to give new life to their plans to build a 60,000-seat stadium by bringing in new investors before the end of the season.

With plans to move to a new stadium in Stanley Park currently on hold, the Reds have begun the search for new funding to bring them back on track.

Managing director Christian Purslow told Spanish sports daily newspaper AS: "When I arrived we agreed with the owners that we had to look for new investors.

"There are interested parties and I would like to get it sorted out before the end of this season. Without investment there won't be a new stadium."

But if they do not find new investment Liverpool will look to try to compete with their rivals by remaining at Anfield.

He added: "That's plan B: run the club in the most responsible way possible.

"We are generating a healthy profit and meeting our obligations, while remaining competitive in the transfer market and with the wages we are paying."

Purslow has reassured star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard not to worry about the club qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Liverpool, currently fifth in the Premier League and in the latter stages of the Europa League, are confident of keeping their prize playing assets.

Purslow said: "We will be in the Champions League, for sure. We are not a selling club."

He also dismissed continued speculation linking manager Rafael Benitez moving to Juventus in the summer.

Purslow said: "We have not considered, nor are we going to consider, a future without Benitez.

"The plan calls for five years of stability in the coaching staff and the (playing) staff.

"It is normal that big clubs are interested in Rafa

JANUARY 12
Time for Liverpool FC owners
to do some real straight talking

Comment by Mark Lawrenson - Liverpool Daily Post

Turns out the departing Tom Hicks junior had the right idea – it was about time the Americans starting responding to supporters’ concerns directly.

Not in the way he did it of course. But communication between the owners and the fans is non-existent and that needs putting right.

Because the silence is too deafening.

Tommy Hicks broke it in a way which kind of sums up the three-year tenure of his father and George Gillett.

There were elements of stupidity in the way he stuck his abuse in an e-mail, in black and white – so it was always going to come out into the public domain and come back to haunt him.

It was a very strange response and only heightens the hostility between this regime and the Liverpool supporters.

However, Tommy was only really his dad’s eyes and ears around the place – him going is just a board member stepping down, and one who really wasn’t doing very much anyway.

The real problem with the current regime is there is no useful information from the club any more and the supporters would like to hear from these two about some very urgent issues.

About the possibility of the new ground, possibility of being able to buy new players at some point, how they perceive the club now and where they want to take it.

The chief executive Christian Purslow probably speaks to them on the phone which is fine – but does he speak to the two of them? Do Hicks and Gillett even speak to each other? How do they communicate?

I think the Americans are hiding from the reality that it is time for them to put their money where their mouths are or try to press ahead with making sure they can get a sale.

But if they have got nothing to hide, they should both come over for one game, and whether it’s to a press conference or a shareholders’ meeting, come out and say what their intention is for the football club.

Answer all questions, get everything out in the open and then go back to hibernating in America again if you want.

But everyone connected with Liverpool Football Club deserves some answers.

They have had to endure all sorts of nonsense totally out of keeping with the traditions of the club since that dark day the Americans completed their takeover almost three years ago.

They deserve better than to be worried about whether their best players will have to be sold, a fear manager Rafael Benitez revealed he has for the first time this week.

I’ve never been one for the scare stories about Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres but the longer all this goes on it just gives the lads the perfect excuse to leave

The owners could just take it out of Benitez’s hands and say: “What, £120-130million for two players? You’re on!”

It is a great worry.

But the behaviour of the Americans is worrying. They’re never at the games, they were looking to replace the manager when he was doing well and now this e-mail row.

They certainly don’t have the Midas Touch – everything they touch turns to debt instead of gold.

Of course, addressing fans’ concerns won’t help repair the relationship so you can understand why they remain distant.

But surely just as a gesture of good will they should come out and make contact to show that they don’t hold any personal ill feeling towards them.

And that would be a far more sincere way of apologising for the younger Hicks’ bizarre actions.

Mark Lawrenson was talking to NICK SMITH

JANUARY 11
Tom Hicks promises big summer splash
as son walks the Anfield plank

By Andy Hunter - guardian.co.uk

Tom Hicks remained bullish in the wake of his son's resignation from Liverpool today when he pledged a "big" summer in the transfer market at Anfield and replaced the outgoing director with another Dallas-based ally.

Hicks's son, Tom Jr, bowed to pressure to relinquish his directorship of Liverpool and its parent company, Kop Holdings, following the furore over the obscene email he sent to a Liverpool supporter in a row over Rafael Benítez's spending power.

His place on the board has been taken by Casey Coffman, vice-president of Hicks Holdings and the chief operating officer of Hicks Sports Group, while Liverpool confirmed that Philip Nash and Ian Ayre, the club's chief financial officer and commercial director respectively, have been appointed directors.

The departure of Hicks Jr was announced this morning after he sent an abusive email to a supporter whom he told to "Blow me fuck face". It is understood the Liverpool director offered to resign when the controversy erupted on Saturday night, with the supporters' union, Spirit of Shankly, demanding his resignation and describing his position as untenable, before the decision was ratified 24 hours later.

A statement issued on behalf of Hicks Jr read: "I have great respect for Liverpool Football Club, especially the Club's supporters. I apologise for my mistake and I am very sorry for my harmful words. I do not want my actions to take away from the Club's future; therefore I am resigning from the Board. To the fans and to the Club, please accept my sincerest apologies."

Unsurprisingly, given their determination to remove Hicks and George Gillett as owners of Liverpool, the Spirit of Shankly group welcomed the American's decision to step down. A spokesperson said: "This club has standards; on the field, off the field, on the terraces and in the boardroom. The standards we have seen exercised in the boardroom have been unbefitting of this great club since Hicks Jr, his father, George Gillett and other associates arrived at the Club with false promises."

The dispute between Hicks Jr and the supporter, Stephen Horner, was prompted by last week's revelations that Benítez will have little to spend in this transfer window even if the Liverpool manager raises more than £15m through player sales. The club has so far raised £6.4m by selling Andriy Voronin and Andrea Dossena to Dynamo Moscow and Napoli respectively and are also hoping to offload Philipp Degen and Ryan Babel before the end of the month. Benítez has resisted efforts to cut his losses with Babel, however, amid concerns his budget will stretch no further than the proposed £1.5m signing of Maxi Rodríguez from Atlético Madrid and possibly one other loan deal.

Liverpool officials say Benítez's budget is a sensible approach to the difficult January transfer market and revenue raised now will be reinvested in the squad in the summer. The Liverpool manager has already started preparations for next season, with the Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh a target on a free transfer.

That stance was echoed by Hicks himself today when, shortly after the announcement of his son's resignation, he responded to another supporter's inquiry about transfer plans with the email that, in hindsight, Hicks Jr should have sent to Horner. The Liverpool co-owner said: "Our debt is very managable (sic) [see Man U] and we never use player sales for debt service. Our interest on £200m is about £16m. The new stadium will be the game changer. Christian [Purslow] is working very hard on it. Jan is a poor-quality market. The summer window will be big."

Purslow, Liverpool's managing director, is engaged in a worldwide search for new investors in the club as Hicks and Gillett seek an equity raise that would reduce their shareholdings but enable work on the proposed stadium in Stanley Park finally to begin.

JANUARY 11
Hicks Jr resigns as Reds director

TEAMtalk

Liverpool director Tom Hicks Jr has resigned from his position at the club and their parent company after a foul-mouthed e-mail rant at a fan.

The American, son of co-owner Tom Hicks, became embroiled in controversy on Sunday when it emerged he had responded abusively when one supporter contacted him directly about the state of the club and their finances.

Having initially called the fan an "idiot", Hicks Jr reportedly then sent a second e-mail saying: "Blow me f*** face. Go to Hell. I'm sick of you."

Hicks Jr subsequently apologised but he has now quit his role at the club and their parent company Kop Holdings.

The Spirit of Shankly fans' group, who are committed to the removal of American co-owners Hicks Sr and George Gillett, had called for Hicks Jr to resign.

However, with his father as co-owner it appeared there would be little pressure from the top to do so.

Hicks Jr was seen as a key player on Anfield's finely-balanced board - comprised of Hicks and his father, Gillett and his son Foster and managing director Christian Purslow.

However, at the same time Liverpool announced his departure they revealed a re-structuring of the boardroom of both the club and Kop Holdings.

Casey Coffman, executive vice-president of Hicks Holdings, is the woman brought in to replace Hicks Jr while Liverpool's chief financial officer Philip Nash and the club's commercial director Ian Ayre are have also both been elected to both companies.

JANUARY 9
Liverpool director Tom Hicks Jnr
sends fan abusive email

By Rory Smith - Telegraph.co.uk

Relations between Liverpool fans and the club’s owners plumbed new depths on Saturday night after it emerged that Tom Hicks Jnr, a director at Anfield, had sent an obscene and abusive email to a supporter concerned over the side’s finances.

Hicks Jr first called the fan an “idiot” after receiving a message containing a newspaper article concerning the challenge facing the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, to cope with the club’s £240 million debt while keeping the team competitive.

Just before 4am on Saturday in Texas (10am in England), where Hicks and his father, Tom, are based, Hicks sent an obscene, expletive-strewn second message, ending: “Go to hell. I’m sick of you.”

Sport on television Ian Ayre and Philip Nash, the club’s commercial and financial directors, were both copied in on the email but the club insist neither received it.

Sources close to Hicks Jnr said he regretted the incident and had apologised to the recipient of the email for using inappropriate language and friends on Saturday night described the Texan as being “mortified” by the “grave misunderstanding”. Hicks, along with other board members, regularly receives vitriolic emails from furious fans but he is unlikely to find much sympathy among the supporters.

Paul Rice, chairman of Spirit of Shankly, the club’s supporters’ union, said: “The comment is behaviour unbecoming of a director of Liverpool and as such Tom Hicks Jnr’s position is untenable.”

The incident lays bare once more the tension between boardroom and stands at Anfield since Hicks senior and his business partner, George Gillett, bought the club almost three years ago. They remain £240 million in debt.

Christian Purslow, the club’s managing director, is seeking investors to take a 25 per cent stake in Liverpool for £100?million in a bid to provide capital to restart work on the new stadium.

That may come too late for Benítez, who can only spend what he can raise. The Spaniard’s £1.2 m capture of Maxi Rodríguez, the Argentine winger, is likely to be just one of two acquisitions by the club this month.

Thor Zakariassen ©