DECEMBER 18
Reds investor search goes on

Sporting Life

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry maintains the search for new investors continues in earnest - but they must be the right type of partner for the long-term good of the club.

The European champions have built on last season's glory night in Istanbul to make a solid start to the new Barclays Premiership campaign, climbing to third in the table with seven straight wins and have this week been in Japan for the FIFA Club World Championship.

Off the pitch, the Reds have proposals for a new 60,000 capacity stadium on Stanley Park - near their current Anfield ground - and were reported to have held talks with the American-based Kraft family to secure the extra financial resources needed for the project.

Parry, though, insists any company or individual who shows a firm interest in the club must also buy into their whole ethos.

"There is a lot of work still going on," he said.

"It is crucially important to have someone who shares our passion for success - there has to be an underlying belief and acceptance the only thing at Liverpool which matters is winning trophies.

"But clearly we are also looking for financial resource to really help us to push on to the next level.

"Of course we are pleased with progress, but there will be no complacency.

"We are not the finished article. There is still a bit to do, and a stadium to finance.

"So it is looking for somebody who has a shared vision and passion for success, and also has reasonably deep pockets."

Parry said on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek Programme: "The more important thing is somebody who will be there for the long haul - it certainly is not about quick returns, it is about recognising the power of the club and its support, and sharing in our values and wanting to get back to sustained success."

As to whether the Anfield club would be a sound investment, Parry declared: "If you are looking for making a fast buck, then the answer is no. If you are looking to share in an exciting time with one of the world's great clubs, then the answer is most certainly yes."

NOVEMBER 10
Don't compare Kraft to Glazer

Sports View With Echo Sports Editor John Thompson

The Kraft family who have been in talks with Liverpool have nothing to do with cheese. But it's best to think of

them that way when people say the Reds are now going down the same road as Manchester United did with Malcolm Glazer.

Because if Glazer is chalk, it seems Robert Kraft is something much more savoury. Recently, the New England Patriots owner spelled out his driving forces. And he kept using F-words.

"Family, Faith, Philanthropy and Football" are what motivates this dollar billionaire. A rich man with proven business skills he maybe, but it seems he is firstly a passionate sports fan - and a long time season ticket holder with the NFL club he now owns.

Kraft's basic values fit neatly with a soccer club which regards its fans as part of the family, supporters whose anthem and reputation tells you they never give up hope.

So Kraft couldn't be more different to Glazer. And Liverpool's situation could not be more different to the one at United, one which allowed Glazer to gobble up Old Trafford and heap a massive debt on the club.

United, then a publicly quoted stock market company with a need to feed shareholders, were there for the taking.

Liverpool, who astutely refused to go down the same road as United some years back, cannot be raided so easily.

Chairman David Moores, alongside Chief Executive Rick Parry, may be searching furiously still for a new owner or partner with the clock ticking down on new stadium plans. But they can decide for themselves who they do deals with - and who they disregard.

For all their critics, rest assured Moores and Parry wouldn't dream of selling Liverpool's heart and soul by bringing in someone who simply wasn't right for Anfield.

Just ask Jose Mourinho.

Massive issues and concerns about Liverpool remain and will grow over the next few months until the club's future is resolved.

And while no deal of any sort with Robert Kraft may be imminent, the possibility of some tie up should not be discounted. Nor should it be cast down as wrong in principle because, well, he is American.

The game he loves, while it shares its named with ours, may be utterly different.

But people who have a passion for sport, an innate love of their club and a burning desire to be the best, are well worth talking to. And why, however late the hour, Parry will travel to any contintent in search of the right partner to take Anfield into a new era.

Robert Kraft is no Malcolm Glazer.

And if he can be tempted into bringing his skills and his money across the pond to Merseyside, it could well be something for supporters to celebrate rather than condemn.

NOVEMBER 9
From Thailand to New England...
Reds' search for cash continues

By Chris Bascombe - Liverpool Echo

When David Moores addresses his next Liverpool AGM in the New Year, it should be in stark contrast to his previous, uneasy experiences.

As the Liverpool chairman sits with the European Cup to his left and, possibly, the World Club championship on his right, he couldn't have wished for a more potent defensive wall against regular critics.

Yet privately, Moores and his colleagues will look towards the annual meeting with a sense of trepidation, knowing the unprecedented success in 2005 hasn't resolved longstanding club problems.

The pressure is intensified to start delivering on the promise of investment, first made over 18 months ago.

Chief executive Rick Parry's presence in Boston over the weekend has once more brought the urgency of the situation into focus.

Liverpool, despite being one of the most well supported and successful clubs in Europe, desperately need money. And they need it quick, hence Parry's presence in the financial hot spots of Dubai and Robert Kraft's shadow in successive weeks.

The Reds are currently playing big boys games with an enforced, prudent annual budget.

The anomaly between what the board want for their club and their manager and what they can deliver is at the heart of the ongoing search for economic assistance.

It's a process which began successfully in 1999 when Granada bought into the club, acquiring 9.9 per cent of shares in exchange for a significant investment which funded the building of The Academy, the initial rebuilding of Gerard Houllier's fledgling squad and also led to a series of commercial spinoffs including the hugely success website, liverpoolfc.tv.

By 2001, the partnership looked to be paying off handsomely, with three major trophies in the cupboard, talk of a 10-year contract for the adored manager, and the most bold move of all, the proposal of an historic change of venue.

When the Stanley Park project was announced, Liverpool never envisaged the traumas to come.

A long consultation and planning process saw an initial cost of £110m rise to a figure now believed to be nearer £200m.

Serious mistakes in the transfer market, failure to qualify for the Champions League and the huge costs of sacking and recruiting an entirely new coaching staff further complicated the Reds' ability to pay for the vision.

Granada are now looking for a way out, and Parry and Moores need someone else in.

Last year the club announced losses of £21.9m. The debt was £15.4m. Much of this was covered with a £10.7m bill to pay-off explayers and members of staff, including £4m to former manager Houllier.

Additionally, the continued refusal of organisations such as the North West Development Agency to meet the costs of improvements outside the stadium itself has further delayed a project which, if not quite dead yet, is certainly in need of an ambulance, preferably containing several million pounds.

Liverpool appointed financial advisors Hawpoints to scout potential investors 18 months ago, but there's still no imminent announcement.

Monday's meeting with Kraft is an encouraging development, although Parry returned to Liverpool today without securing a deal, even if hopes have been raised.

Pounds, dollars or Thai Bahts, the colour of the currency hasn't been an issue to Liverpool in their increasingly desperate attempt to keep the Stanley Park plan intact while ensuring Benitez has money to improve his squad.

Parry made an ill-fated trip to Bangkok to meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatwa in 2004, as the football-mad country indicated a willingness to buy 30 per cent of the club for around £65m. Parry also grew wary of the Thai's ability to deliver.

The reaction on Merseyside was unfavourable, with Shinawatwa's human rights record increasing pressure on the club to distance themselves from a deal.

Nothing materialised, and leading shareholder Steve Morgan instantly reacted by making his long anticipated move in May 2004.

His first bid to invest £73m into the club was rejected as unattractive.

A later offer was provisionally accepted, but Morgan revised the deal following the process of due diligence as he reviewed the rising costs of the new stadium.

Moores was back from the brink. Another interested party emerged in a US-led consortium named L4, led by movie producer Mike Jeffries, but he was never viewed with anything more than suspicion by the Liverpool board.

It was L4 who first publicly encouraged talks with the Kraft family.

Liverpool already have links to Kraft via commercial partners Reebok, who are partly responsibly for engineering Monday's talks. Parry had already contacted Kraft months before L4's intervention.

Liverpool's astonishing success in the Champions League revitalised the enthusiasm of the chairman, who must have thought Rafa Benitez's success would be the springboard for attractive business propositions.

Five months on, nothing has materialised.

Parry's trip to Boston will no doubt excite supporters desperate for a sugar daddy to fund a new era of success, but the vibes from Anfield since the weekend have been cautious.

There's nothing Liverpool would love more than the generosity of Robert Kraft to solve their financial difficulties, but there's little to suggest that's about to happen.

Indeed, Parry's meeting appears no more than another tentative step in a journey of a million miles.

NOVEMBER 9
Parry holds talks with US tycoon

BBC Sport Online

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry is remaining tight-lipped about potential investment in the club after meeting billionaire Robert Kraft
in the USA.

Parry spoke to the Kraft family, who own New England Patriots NFL team, about Liverpool's proposed new stadium.

And while future investment is not ruled out, no deal is imminent.

"I've known them since 2001 and had an invitation to visit the Gillette stadium, one of the USA's few privately-funded stadia," he said.

Parry added: "It gave us a chance to discuss the way they funded the ground's construction.

"Being an international break, it was a convenient time to accept the invitation and it proved an interesting trip.

"It was hardly a secret mission. I attended an NFL match with 80,000 spectators."

Liverpool are still intent on moving to a new stadium, but the estimated price of the proposed new Stanley Park development has risen from £80m to £150m, so it is believed the Liverpool board think outside investment is inevitable.

A sponsorship deal means Arsenal's new stadium will be known as the Emirates Stadium, and it is thought Liverpool could be interested in a similar arrangement.

The Kraft Group specialises in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment and venture investment. The Group bought New England Patriots for £98m in 1994 and also owns Major League Soccer team New England Revolution.

Liverpool have been linked with major investment several times, but nothing has come to fruition.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniwatra offered £60m for a 30% stake in the club, but that failed to develop, and lifelong fan and building magnate Steve Morgan has made several failed bids to up his stake in the club.

Any deal would not mirror Malcolm Glazer's takeover of Manchester United, with chairman David Moores not looking to relinquish his entire 51% shareholding.

Parry will be off on his travels again soon, attending the Soccerex football business convention in Dubai which starts on Sunday.

SEPTEMBER 15
Americans Krafting a Liverpool takeover?

By USA senior editor Andrew Giffen - Goal.com

First it was American tycoon Malcolm Glazer treading on fans' wishes and strong-arming his way to control of Manchester United, but now it appears Liverpool could be the next to crumble.

Reports out of England's Daily Mail indicate the Kraft family is on the verge of investing in the defending European Champions--as much as a 30% stake to start.

The Krafts are the investor/operators of Major League Soccer's New England Revolution, who currently carry the best record in MLS. The Kraft family also acted as investor/operators for the San Jose Earthquakes from 1998-2001.

But the Krafts are best known as owners of the NFL's New England Patriots, winners of three of the past four Super Bowls. Both the football and gridiron teams play at state-of-the-art Gillette Stadium, the $325 million development and construction of which the Krafts oversaw.

A move by the Krafts would come on the heels of Manchester United's May takeover by Malcolm Glazer, who owns the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 2001 Super Bowl Champions, although it is unclear how the Krafts would finance a possible takeover bid.

The Kraft family's patriarch, Robert Kraft, was instrumental in helping the Boston/Foxboro area become one of nine host cities for the 1994 World Cup in the United States. In addition Kraft carries a glowing reputation for his community involvement, something the reclusive Glazer is not known for.

But the Krafts may face competition from Thai media tycoon Paiboon Damrongchaitham, chariman of Thailand’s largest multimedia group GMM Grammy. Damrongchaitham is expecting to resume investment talks with Liverpool next month.

If the Glazer-United saga is any indication, however, expect fierce outcry from Reds supporters.

SEPTEMBER 13
Thai bid for Liverpool on track

AFP

A Thai consortium's bid for a stake in English Premiership football club Liverpool was still on track but negotiations could take another year, a Thai media tycoon said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference about raising his company's slice of two Thai publishing companies, chairman Paiboon Damranongchiatham let slip that the Liverpool deal was still in progress.

When reporters suggested high profile deals involving the company never materialised, such as the highly publicised bid for Liverpool in 2004, Paiboon said he recently spoke with the Merseyside club's chief executive Rick Parry.

"The negotiations will resume in autumn, in another year," Paiboon said, giving no further details.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2004 announced plans to acquire 30 percent of Liverpool FC through various means to raise the money to fuel the Thai fantasy of pulling strings at the top of one of the world's most celebrated football clubs.

They included using taxpayers' money, a share float on the stock exchange, and launch a massive $250-million public lottery.

Paiboon was named as the replacement chief negotiator in talks with the club shortly before Thaksin conceded the government had backed out of the deal.

MAY 27
Champions can take down for sale sign

Daily Post

The pressure has been immense to sell LFC. Bill Gleeson gets an expert's view after the final win

Liverpool's Champions League success means the club no longer needs to be sold. That is the opinion of one of the region's leading football finance experts.

Liverpool have been in talks for more than year now with potential investors that include property developer and big Reds' fan Steve Morgan and, at one stage, Thailand's prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

James Dow, who runs corporate finance advisory firm Dow Schofield Watts, said that the combined proceeds from the club's run in Europe's top tournament should ease the club's cash flow problems.

Mr Dow, who has previously advised Barcelona, Celtic, Ajax and Everton, said: "The Champions League win has allowed them breathing space.

"They may have been seeking investment because previously the directors may have foreseen the need for help with financing a better squad and the planned new stadium. But this could make the difference."

Mr Morgan, who owns a £400m fortune, was at the game in Istanbul. He didn't suffer from any of the flight delays of returning fans as he flew by private jet. Yesterday he refused to say what his next move would be in his protracted attempt to buy the club from current majority shareholder and club chairman David Moores.

Mr Morgan issued a statement that read: "I'm delighted we have won and look forward to getting my voice back in the next day or two." If the price at which club shares trade is anything to go by, Liverpool is less valuable than it was this time last year when the takeover talk was at its height. Last summer, the shares were trading at £4,250 each. Now the price is around the £3,000 mark.

Neil Turner is a stockbroker at Duke Street-based Blankstone Sington. The firm has made a market in the shares of both of Merseyside's big two clubs for many years.

Mr Turner said: "The price has been holding steady in recent weeks in the face of regular supply and demand.

"The shares only trade in small amounts, and there were some enquiries in the last few weeks and there could well be more trading in the next few weeks, but there was none today. I guess too many people still had hangovers.

"I don't think the shares will rise particularly as a result of last night's win. Yes they will get more revenue, but the chances are they will spend it quickly."

The revenue or profit earned by a football club is not necessarily the biggest factor in determining its share price or value. The fact that Steven Gerrard had to lead the most remarkable comeback in Champions League history could be of more value to the club than a straightforward 2-0 victory.

"Romance has a lot more to do with it," said Mr Dow. "It's not just the fact they won it that matters, but the way they won it."

His view is shared by Rogan Taylor, director of the University of Liverpool's football industry research group. He said: "The way that they won it is very important. Big brands want to be associated with something special. They want the magic to rub off on them.

"Istanbul was mythological in proportions. To be down and out and then to come back - brands like nothing better than to be associated with that kind of fairy story."

Mr Taylor, a lifelong Liverpool fan, believes the win could improve the value of the club in the medium term. He said: "The additional value to the brand is very significant.

"For five years they tried to live off Michael Owen as a brand in the face of what was, by their standards, failure on the pitch.

"When you are not winning big tournaments, it becomes more and more difficult to retain the interest of big sponsors. Now they are in a different position when it comes to renegotiate with Carlsberg.

"As well as about £35m from Uefa, they could be able to improve their take from various sponsorship deals and overseas tours by £10m." The academic believes that Liverpool's footballing glory can rub off on the rest of the city.

"The way it happened was very symbolic. There is a synchronicity about the way the city is being lifted out of the doldrums and the way Liverpool came back from adversity."

Mr Dow doesn't think that this week's glories on the pitch will result in a long-term revaluation of the club.

"That would take something quite radical," he said. "One thing that might result in a sea change in the valuation of clubs is if Malcolm Glazer changes the income model for football clubs. Glazer might try to break the collectively negotiated TV rights deal or at least refine it in some way.

"If he does, and Manchester United make more income, then others will follow suit.

"Liverpool would be one of the biggest winners from that." Such a break-up of the collective bargaining arrangements could allow clubs, particularly top ones, to charge viewers directly to watch televised games on a pay per view basis.

However, most of the rest of the Premiership would challenge any attempt by the bigger clubs to move away from the collective deal, arguing that they are just as necessary to running a league as the big clubs.

Thor Zakariassen ©