The role of George Gillett in Liverpool Football Club remains unclear as he is in default on a £75m loan he took out to invest in the club.
The loan from Mill Financial, an arm of US hedge fund Springfield Financial Company, should have been paid by the co-owner of the football club.
But it has not been and Mill Financial could take control of his shareholding.
At this stage the company does not appear to be exerting that much influence at Anfield, and has not returned calls from the ECHO, so its intentions are unclear.
Technically, Liverpool view the current legal dispute as a straight fight with Tom Hicks, not Gillett, owing to that £75m loan default.
But despite this debt not being paid, and unconfirmed reports that a US hedge fund took control of his share at Anfield, Gillett carried enough sway to join his co-owner in their attempt to vote Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre off the board during Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting.
For the time being George Gillett remains on the board of Kop Holdings along with co-owner Hicks, chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Purslow, and commercial director Ayre.
When buying Liverpool FC, the Americans set up a complex series of holding companies with an overriding parent company registered in Delaware.
Gillett’s £75m loan from Mill Financial is secured against his 50% share in the Delaware based parent company.
But the £237m RBS debt is secured against Kop Holdings, which sits much further down the line in the hierarchy of holding companies and just one level above Liverpool Football Club company, which ultimately controls the assets of the Reds – the playing squad, stadium, and commercial rights.
As the RBS debt is secured against the company in direct control of LFC it is in the strongest position to be repaid.
The £75m loan from Mill Financial provided the cash that Gillett used to invest in the club and had amounted to his Reds equity.
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