Liverpool FC appear to have rejected an offer of £110 million from New York-based fund management company Rhone Group for a controlling share in the Anfield club, with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett failing to respond to the bid ahead of its deadline.
Liverpool are keen to secure new investment in order to pay off the club's debts and finance a move from Anfield to a new state of the art stadium in Liverpool's Stanley Park, but negotiations with Rhone appear to have fallen by the wayside.
'Though Rhone's investment is needed to pay down £100m of debt demanded of the club by Liverpool's bankers, Royal Bank of Scotland, the club seem to believe they can secure a better deal elsewhere,' reports The Independent. 'It does not seem that Rhone will go back to the club in the future and though further negotiations are possible if Liverpool re-establish contact, the valuation may have changed if Rafael Benitez's side are not playing Champions League football next season.'
Participation in the Uefa Champions League is worth tens of millions each season to participating clubs. Liverpool have been a fixture in the competition in recent seasons, winning it in 2005 and reaching the final again in 2007, but were eliminated ahead of the knock-out stages in this season's competition and are currently trailing in the race to qualify for next season's edition.
The Reds, who can point to a seemingly less difficult run-in than their rivals for fourth place, were held 1-1 by Birmingham City this weekend, with Liam Ridgewell cancelling out Steven Gerrard's opener. Liverpool are in sixth place, four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Liverpool are keen to secure new investment in order to pay off the club's debts and finance a move from Anfield to a new state of the art stadium in Liverpool's Stanley Park, but negotiations with Rhone appear to have fallen by the wayside.
'Though Rhone's investment is needed to pay down £100m of debt demanded of the club by Liverpool's bankers, Royal Bank of Scotland, the club seem to believe they can secure a better deal elsewhere,' reports The Independent. 'It does not seem that Rhone will go back to the club in the future and though further negotiations are possible if Liverpool re-establish contact, the valuation may have changed if Rafael Benitez's side are not playing Champions League football next season.'
Participation in the Uefa Champions League is worth tens of millions each season to participating clubs. Liverpool have been a fixture in the competition in recent seasons, winning it in 2005 and reaching the final again in 2007, but were eliminated ahead of the knock-out stages in this season's competition and are currently trailing in the race to qualify for next season's edition.
The Reds, who can point to a seemingly less difficult run-in than their rivals for fourth place, were held 1-1 by Birmingham City this weekend, with Liam Ridgewell cancelling out Steven Gerrard's opener. Liverpool are in sixth place, four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
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