Liverpool FC Forum

[The Ace1983]

Out of that lot, I'd choose Kraft. He could match the likes of Abramovich for money (not the most important thing, but it would be quite nice), he's very into his sport, he owns another footie team, he only backs winners and he'd do what he could to bring back the glory days. But if I'm honest, Moores is the one for me. He's a billionaire, a true fan and he'd tell Everscum to go fu.ck themselves over a groundshare. Money isn't everything and we have our pride. If we all started doing the pools, we'd make ourselves rich!

[oOShrimpyOo]

But if I'm honest, Moores is the one for me. He's a billionaire,

is he a billionaire? millionaire i thought he was...could be wrong.

[Blue_Heart]

lol where are all these takovers coming from? it's ok for about 3 clubs but now most premiership clubs are getting bought, it's ruining the premiership now! Who's next? Watford?

[Reinas No.1 Fan]

Its Morgan we have to be careful of he is all in favour of a groundshare. Even though he's a Liverpool fan.

Morgan's a wannabe. End of debate.

The thing about Kraft is, he is a billionaire of his own making (i think) by building up a FAMILY company to a global enterprise, He also owns the New England Patriots NFL team who have won the superbowl 3 times in 6 years (again I think) which is practically unheard of in the NFL (yet again I think)

I am in favour of Robert Craft being owner of Liverpool FC

1/ He has his own money to buy us
2/ He seems to have the Family mentality rather than the coporate business mentality of the Glazers
3/ Other Sports franchizes he has bought have been very sucessfull

Some of you may disagree but I think Craft would suit liverpool well.

[flombs]

and this informative article. ripped shamelessly from anfield road:

Written by Tom Wilson
   
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
 
The two main stories on the TV news last night will have had Liverpool supporters pricking up their ears. The BBC’s Panorama programme exposing “bungs” and tapping up in English football was explosive enough to be top story on at least the BBC’s news programmes, but thankfully the names featured involved clubs like Bolton, Portsmouth and Chelsea. One name that did stand out in that programme was Peter Harrison, the Newcastle based agent that Liverpool would have been speaking to towards the end of the transfer window, as he represents Blackburn’s Lucas Neill. Obviously that story has a long way to run yet.

The other story was regarding the military coup in Thailand, where the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in his absence. Shinawatra was one of the many names mentioned in recent years as a potential investor in Liverpool FC. Whether he’d have got close enough to actually buy any part of the club will never be known, but an outcry in his own country about the fact he seemed to be planning to use public money for his plan soon brought it all to an end. Obviously he’s got far more important things on his mind now than buying a football club, which is just as well really from Liverpool’s point of view.

Whether it was just a coincidence or not I’m not sure, but no sooner had Shinawatra been ousted by his own people than the local newspaper in Liverpool was doing a big feature on investment at Anfield. In fact they were heralding big things happening this week at the club, hinting than an Anfield takeover was imminent.

The printed version of the Daily Post, like the electronic version, had a headline that screamed: “Millionaires battle to takeover Liverpool FC”. The suggestion was that things really had started to move, and there were numerous reports supporting this.
Then this afternoon the sister paper to the Post, the evening paper The Liverpool Echo, was damping it all down with an interview with Rick Parry. “Rick Parry: The truth on Anfield” was the headline, and like so many times before the Chief Executive of the club was explaining patiently how the sensationalism was a little premature.

Larry Neild was one of those reporting, “exclusively” on events at the club. His story started “Directors of Liverpool Football Club have been summoned to an urgent meeting tomorrow to debate three potential bids to take over the club.” He linked this with another of those non-deadlines we keep hearing about: “The meeting at Anfield comes just 24 hours before the club must deliver details of its package to fund the new £180m 60,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park.”

Neild said that there were three bids about to be put to the board, including one from former Redrow owner Steve Morgan. The other two bidders’ names were “shrouded in secrecy” but he said it was thought they were “possibly from the US or Far East.”

At that stage in the story I’d already started to wonder if this story was a storm in a tea cup. To know that Steve Morgan is involved, but not to even know which continent the other two came from seemed a little too much like an example of the local paper being manipulated to suit the agenda of someone else. The Liverpool Echo, and sometimes the Post, are excellent resources to look to when someone wants to find out what’s happening at the club, but when the story is investment the political issues always seem to cloud the facts.
Neild speculated at the cost of the investment to whoever makes those bids: “Any offer would almost certainly need to value LFC at at least £200m to be taken seriously. The last major investment in the club was in 1999 when Granada paid £22m for a 9.9% stake.”

As ever a “source close to Liverpool FC” was on hand to provide a quote. “There are definitely two or three parties involved in the ownership of the club, but it would be wide of the mark to say the club will be sold on Thursday. It will take longer for arrangements to be made.”

The Post were also trying to get Liverpool’s Head of Press, Ian Cotton, to talk about the developments, but he wasn’t going to answer any questions at all: “We have no comment to make,” he said.

The paper was clearly proud of its scoop, and added that it understood “private investors are ready with funding to help pay for the new stadium”, but also went on: “The outcome of tomorrow's meeting, possibly one of the most crucial in the club's 114-year history, will probably decide the fate of the controversial stadium plan that has already won planning permission from Liverpool City Council.” 

Clearly the current hierarchy at Anfield know how long they can wait to make decisions about how the new stadium is funded and they feel they’ve got no need to hurry. Outsiders, including more often than not certain members of the council, seem to feel it’s a lot more urgent than Parry and Moores make out.

The Post article is full of references to the various deadlines that the club have so far allowed to pass. Some people are angry at the way the club seem to be acting so blasé about things, but nobody ever seems willing to accept that the club are acting this way because there’s really nothing to worry about. The article talks about the 999-year-lease we were granted on the part of Stanley Park we’ll use for the new stadium, and the “vital” £18m funding package from the Merseyside Objective One committee and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

The Post also claimed to be speaking to a “senior source close to the negotiations”, who told them: “The next few days will be crucial in deciding the future of the new stadium plan. By next week the picture will be clear.”

It was inevitable that there would be a quote from Liverpool city councillor Flo Clucas. She is the Chair of the Objective One Committee and has been telling anyone who’ll listen for weeks now that Liverpool FC need to pull their finger out. She’s made many ultimatums and imposed many deadlines, but all of them have been ignored by the club who seem happier to work to official deadlines rather than those spouted to the press. She told the Post of her latest ultimatum and latest deadline: “We have told the club that to release European funding, I will need to see evidence by Friday or the weekend at the very latest that the club has the financial means to fund the ground. The final decision will be made on Thursday, September 28.” Maybe this deadline will be for real, but it does seem to be one of many that has been shifted in the past few years from one committee or organisation or another.

Laughably, the possibility of ground sharing is still being dreamed about by some. The article ends: “It is also likely that the NWDA will want to determine the attitude of a new owner towards sharing a stadium with Everton FC.”

Then there’s more to be added from one of the Post and Echo’s most well-known reporters Len Capeling. Building it up even further than his colleague, he talks about the meeting as if it really is going to be something Liverpool fans will never forget: “David Moores’ ocean-deep love for Liverpool will ensure that he makes the right decision for the club and its famous fans at Anfield tomorrow night. Before him and his fellow directors will be three bids for ownership of one of football's most illustrious names. They are bids that will put Liverpool on an exciting expansionist trip whose riches will include a new £200m super-stadium within a mis-hit goal kick of the old faithful arena.”

He also says that the long-running saga of who will be the next owner of England’s most successful club has long-since exceeded its sell-by date: “Their search for a saviour has dragged on far too long, infuriating easily-fretted fans and frustrating the best intentions - and I think they have been best intentions - of chairman Moores and his able chief executive, Rick Parry.”

There was also a quote from Les Lawson, the secretary of the official Liverpool Supporters Club: “This has come completely out of the blue. The situation has been going on for nearly three years and it is about time a line was drawn under it. Either David Moores says he is not prepared to sell his shares or they accept a takeover bid.” Like probably all Liverpool fans, Les says that we shouldn’t be owned by just anyone: “It has to be the right person - it should not just be about money. We believe this is a special club and we would prefer a Liverpool supporter, someone who has a feeling for the club. But it has got to come to a head soon.”
   
Finally the afternoon came and with it the Liverpool Echo. The reporter in charge of bringing us all the facts about the club we love for that particular paper, Chris Bascombe, was ready to put the record straight, from the official point of view of the club. He’d spoken to Rick Parry.

So, had an urgent board meeting been unexpectedly called by the board for tomorrow? Er, no it hadn’t actually – but there was a routine one planned, for the day after. He did confirm that the meeting was expected to be told about progress on the investment front though, but nothing particularly ground-breaking.

Parry said: “We have a board meeting on Friday. It's our regular meeting, not specially arranged. We're not expecting it to be a momentous occasion."

It also seems that the club are working hard behind the scenes with their funding efforts, and that they had hoped to have already had it sorted in the summer. This didn’t happen, but the claims of the club having until midnight tomorrow to prove their funding is lined up are wrong. Parry continued: “We have been speaking to the council every day, will continue to do so and will be speaking to them again after the board meeting on Friday. We are confident we are going to get funding for the stadium and we're continuing to work hard to proceed with our plans.”

So another storm in a teacup seems about to pass us by again.

***********************************************

a lot of points raised here and there but it seems no clearer as to the true 'goings on' behind the scenes yet. we'll have to wait and see....

Thank god i stopped reading half way. 

[The Ace1983]

But if I'm honest, Moores is the one for me. He's a billionaire,

is he a billionaire? millionaire i thought he was...could be wrong.

Well, the Moores family haul is £1.4 Billion and seeing as he is the head of the family, he calls the shots.

[Ciggy]

Just been announced on the radio the fundings been aproved so we are getting the 9 million from the euro funding.
Steve Morgan better not take over our club, that will be the day this club dies if he does with his groundshare stance.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv....ge.html

[account deleted by request]

STATEMENT ON FUNDING FOR ANFIELD REGENERATION
Paul Eaton 28 September 2006 
  The Objective One Project Selection Committee has agreed to award £9 million of ERDF funding towards a £24.6 million package of environmental improvements to Stanley Park, Anfield. 
The award supports other partners’ investment intentions for the Anfield area – including Housing Market Renewal and a new stadium for Liverpool FC – and will help unlock substantial benefits in terms of physical and economic regeneration for north Liverpool.
 
The funding for the refurbishment of Stanley Park, The Gladstone Conservatory and public realm works is linked to Liverpool FC’s commitment to invest in a new stadium. Liverpool FC provided satisfactory evidence that the funding is available to it to build a new stadium and the award was made on that basis.
 
The project to refurbish Stanley Park, which includes a new lake, public art and the refurbishment of the historic Gladstone Conservatory, must be completed by December 2008.
 
“This is a major step forward for the people of Anfield,” said Councillor Flo Clucas, chair of the Objective One Project Selection Sub-Committee. “It will underpin substantial investment by other partners whose commitment will help transform the neighbourhood.
 
“Jobs, training opportunities and major physical regeneration will build a momentum that we expect to be sustained over time,” she said.
 
“This is another excellent example of how European Objective One funding can unlock significant investment from other partners to secure the long-term future of communities. In terms of the outputs we have been promised, this investment represents good value for money,” added Cllr Clucas.
 
This is NOT a grant to Liverpool FC to support the costs of its new stadium. The applicant for the funding is Liverpool City Council and the money is to be spent on Stanley Park, The Gladstone Conservatory and public realm works.
 
Other sources of funding for the refurbishment work at Stanley Park are Northwest Regional Development Agency (£8.9m), Liverpool FC (£5m) and Liverpool City Council (£1.7m). 

From Liverpool TV.

[red37]

this old chestnut again.....from tomorrows indy.

Dubai Holdings line up a bid for Liverpool
By John Nisbet

Published: 23 October 2006

Dubai Holdings, the Middle Eastern state's investment arm, has emerged as a leading bidder for Liverpool, according to reports yesterday.

The company, which has concerns in the health, communications, real estate, tourism and energy sectors, has renewed its interest in the club after walking away from negotiations earlier in the year.

The Liverpool Chairman, David Moores, who has a 51 per cent stake in the club, values the parent company at £300m. Other interested parties include the Belfast property millionaire, John Miskelly, and an unnamed American company.

Dubai Holdings, the Middle Eastern state's investment arm, has emerged as a leading bidder for Liverpool, according to reports yesterday.

**********************************************

.....what better time go on moores sell the bloody lot!

its the only way your going to see your beloved reds move on.

[account deleted by request]

The clock is ticking for a decision on who will buy Liverpool. I understand the board are keen to settle this long-running saga – it has been going on for three years – before the club's annual general meeting, to be held in December or January.

At recent annual meetings there has been much acrimony about the failure to do a deal and the board are unlikely to want a repeat of such scenes.

There is also the commitment the club have made to the local council that they will start work on the new stadium, estimated to cost £200 million, by next year. However, until a deal is done, money secured and Liverpool's ownership settled, there is unlikely to be any progress on the stadium.

I understand Liverpool have four suitors, including a consortium led by Robin Herd, the former owner of Oxford United, a Belfast businessman, a rich Norwegian, and Dubai Holdings, who expressed interest some years ago and have renewed their interest.

advertisementIn the past the sticking point in the negotiations has been David Moores, the chairman, who owns 51 per cent and did not want to relinquish control.

Liverpool have 15,177 unissued shares and discussion has centred on issuing these shares. Although local share dealings price each Liverpool share at around £3,000, Moores has talked of wanting £6,000 a share, which would bring £90 million into the club.

It would mean that while Moores' shareholding would dilute down to 38 per cent, he would still be the biggest shareholder and very much in control.

However, the revival of interest by Dubai Holdings suggests that now a complete purchase of Liverpool is on the cards.

Although Dubai Holdings are a public company, they are effectively controlled by the government of Dubai. Their chief executive, Mohammed Gergawi, is head of the office of the Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohammed. The trend of recent Arab investment is to be very hands on, not passive, and should Dubai Holdings take over Liverpool this could mean big changes at Anfield.

Nigel Dudley, a Middle East specialist, says: "In the past, Gulf investors were happy to put in money and let others manage but that is not the case now."

It would also mean that the state of Dubai would have a prominent influence on two major clubs in the Premiership. In one, Liverpool, they would be owners. In another, Arsenal, the sponsors are Emirates, the state airline of Dubai.

Such an influence does not violate football's law on multiple ownership of clubs and clubs say sponsors exercise no influence, but it will mark a new trend.
Telegraph
                                 ---------------------------------

perhaps we could make Arsenal our "feeder club"

[coddy]

Please no Europeans or Americans............ or Rushki's for that matter......

[Kash_Mountain]

What's the latest on this buyout, i've not heard anything more.

[The Manhattan Project]

Caution is the best route.

We don't want to carelessly sell up and end up like Hearts.

[account deleted by request]

Latest takeover rumour

Mail on Sunday:

After United and Glazer, now Liverpool are the target for American takeover
By Daniel King

LIVERPOOL are a takeover target for an American multimillionaire who once owned
the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. George Gillett junior, whose colourful
business career has also taken in American football and ice hockey, has emerged
as a serious rival to Dubai Holdings, the government-owned company who have been
negotiating with Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry in the past week.

Gillett, owner of the Montreal Canadiens NHL team, is thought to be the mystery
American businessman who has been linked with Liverpool for a number of months.
With the potential investors from Dubai reported to be dismayed at publicity
surrounding Parry’s third visit to the Middle East in the space of a fortnight,
Gillett is tipped to become the frontrunner to put money into the debt-ridden
club. Liverpool remain desperate for funding to build their proposed £180
million stadium in Stanley Park and to allow manager Rafa Benitez to bring in
more high-pedigree players. After almost three years of false alarms and
embarrassment, fans will not be holding their breath about the search for
investment ending soon. But if Gillett follows up his interest with an official
bid, Anfield could have its very own Malcolm Glazer. Like his fellow American,
the ailing owner of Manchester United, Gillett, 68, is a ruthless investor who
shuns the limelight and leaves three of his four sons to act as the public face
of his diverse business interests. But his track record backs up his reputation
as a sports fanatic, albeit one whose motives for investing in teams have been
called into question. He left leading consultancy firm McKinsey in the Sixties
to become business manager at the Miami Dolphins and in 1967 led an investment
in the Harlem Globetrotters — he helped to run them for 11 years. After making
further money in the meat-packaging and communications industries, Gillett
bought two leading ski resorts but, having once reputedly been a billionaire, he
went bankrupt in 1992. He quickly bounced back, adding new interests in the meat
and skiing businesses, and in 2001 he spent £100m acquiring the Bell Centre rink
complex and an 80 per cent stake in the Montreal Canadiens, where son Foster is
now his eyes and ears. The sticking points for a Gillett takeover will be the
club’s tens of millions of debt and the spiralling cost of the stadium, not to
mention the £300m valuation believed to have been put on the club by chairman
and majority shareholder David Moores. Reports of a Liverpool director
criticising Benitez and fearing for the club’s financial future are also
unlikely to have impressed Gillett or the rulers of Dubai, who already have a
foothold in the Premiership through the sponsorship of Arsenal’s stadium and
shirts by state airline Emirates.

[floppo]

As has been mentioned earlier we need to be very very careful with regards to these type of investors, Hearts is a great example of how power mad, millionaires can ruin your club.

I would prefer to see a Liverpool fan takeover, rather than someone who has merely a financial interest in making money out of our club.