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.
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.
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