Liverpool FC Forum

[kopite_1232002]

Tony Barrett has posted over on rawk that we look what is on timesonile at 12a.m

only trust tony Barrett tony Evans and bamba on takeover

[Scottbot]

Echoed in the Guardian - If it's true then f**k Off Kenny. We (the fans) don't want this rushed through, look what happened last time that happened. Please just sit patient, ride things out and let the board do their job. I'd rather this whole thing took another month to be honest. So long as Hodgson can get the money to buy a decent back-up for Torres we should have enough in the team/squad to make it though to the January window in decent shape. If the Chinese bid really has come as low as has been speculated then it's no surprise that it hasn't instantly been accepted. It sounds like he/they are playing a very tactical game and if that's the case he/they will have to wait it out.


Frustrated Kenny Huang ready to walk away from Liverpool takeover

• Chinese investor unhappy with lack of progress regarding bid
• Anfield board still checking proof of funds on several offers

   

    * Andy Hunter
    * guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 22.38 BST
   

Kenny Huang Kenny Huang is leading a consortium that is interested in taking over Liverpool. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Kenny Huang, the Chinese businessman attempting to buy Liverpool, is believed to be growing frustrated at the lack of progress in his attempt to gain control of the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Huang is one of several interested parties who submitted an offer for Liverpool ahead of last Friday's deadline, and the Anfield board is now verifying proof of funding and identifying its preferred bidder. The board will then determine who purchases the club from Hicks and Gillett on a majority vote.

The entrepreneur, however, is anxious to complete a deal in advance of the transfer window closing so he can provide Roy Hodgson, the manager, with significant funds for squad improvement.

Though Hodgson has made it clear he would not rush into any extravagant deals in the wake of a sudden transfer windfall, Huang is said to be frustrated that a decision has not been reached by Liverpool.

[Igor Zidane]

Echoed in the Guardian - If it's true then f**k Off Kenny. We (the fans) don't want this rushed through, look what happened last time that happened. Please just sit patient, ride things out and let the board do their job. I'd rather this whole thing took another month to be honest. So long as Hodgson can get the money to buy a decent back-up for Torres we should have enough in the team/squad to make it though to the January window in decent shape. If the Chinese bid really has come as low as has been speculated then it's no surprise that it hasn't instantly been accepted. It sounds like he/they are playing a very tactical game and if that's the case he/they will have to wait it out.


Frustrated Kenny Huang ready to walk away from Liverpool takeover

• Chinese investor unhappy with lack of progress regarding bid
• Anfield board still checking proof of funds on several offers

   

    * Andy Hunter
    * guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 22.38 BST
   

Kenny Huang Kenny Huang is leading a consortium that is interested in taking over Liverpool. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Kenny Huang, the Chinese businessman attempting to buy Liverpool, is believed to be growing frustrated at the lack of progress in his attempt to gain control of the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Huang is one of several interested parties who submitted an offer for Liverpool ahead of last Friday's deadline, and the Anfield board is now verifying proof of funding and identifying its preferred bidder. The board will then determine who purchases the club from Hicks and Gillett on a majority vote.

The entrepreneur, however, is anxious to complete a deal in advance of the transfer window closing so he can provide Roy Hodgson, the manager, with significant funds for squad improvement.

Though Hodgson has made it clear he would not rush into any extravagant deals in the wake of a sudden transfer windfall, Huang is said to be frustrated that a decision has not been reached by Liverpool.

It's just a bluff scott . Designed to put pressure on Broughton to accept .

[Reg]

It's just a bluff scott . Designed to put pressure on Broughton to accept .

Yep, its gamesmanship.

[Reg]

The Chinese offer would make the club debt-free and also bring large-scale investment as part of a total outlay of about £800 million.

THIS is the key.

Broughton must get the written contractual commitment that if they sell the club for 350 million (and screw T&T in the process) that Kenny will pledge a total investment of 800 million over say 3 years.

Yes we'll sell cheap but you're not getting a free lunch, you must pledge a defined value of investment in the coming 3 year period or there will be an agreed penalty (forfeit of 51% of the shares or something etc..).

To see a number of 800 million if its accurate, is extremely welcome news. Keep going Broughton.

[SouthCoastShankly]

Tony Barrett has posted over on rawk that we look what is on timesonile at 12a.m

only trust tony Barrett tony Evans and bamba on takeover

Tony Evans is full of sh!t in my opinion. I've read too many of his scaremongering sensationalist red top style articles.

It was only a few weeks back he was on Talk Sport guaranteeing Gerrard was off and the "deal had been done"

[kopite_1232002]

Tony Barrett has posted over on rawk that we look what is on timesonile at 12a.m

only trust tony Barrett tony Evans and bamba on takeover

Tony Evans is full of sh!t in my opinion. I've read too many of his scaremongering sensationalist red top style articles.

It was only a few weeks back he was on Talk Sport guaranteeing Gerrard was off and the "deal had been done"

I agree with you mate. but on this i think he really does know what is going on..

Huang is deffo using the times as a media puppet.

[zarababe]

The Echo has dispelled the Huang inpatient story.

Anyone who wants to buy this club will want to take time to see things.. in the same way 'responsible' administrators will do the same when choosing the preferred buyer. Any serious investor will not be clamouring for a quick decision.

Take all with a pinch of salt..:

Last week on, 'deadline day' the media said no bids had been recieved.. now Broughton is mulling over submissions

Much wil be reported but the best thing is to stay tight.. pray and so-forth until something solid happens - I believe it will !

[shabelle50]

For sure they should take their team in selling the club but if progress isn't made it may not matter. RBS could push the club into administration if they don't think a deal is likely. I doubt whether many on here then will be arguing for patience.

[Reg]

How we enjoy speculating over events.....

Bidders have no rush to close deals knowing T&T are paying 2.5 million a week to the banks, the desire to close quickly is T&T's so the longer they stretch out the negotiations, the better their chances of achiveing compromises in their favour.

Broughton is effectively a professional negotiator assessing the bids in conjunction with BarCap. He represents T&T however has the right to impose a set of terms on his employers. His legacy will be the well being of the club, not what T&T think of him.

T&T are morally bankrupt and have lost all face both in Liverpool and the UK, and in the sports world in general. They're on their knees, GG has been once in 6 months, TH has suffered financial disasters in the US. Broughton was a clever appointment so T&T wouldnt have to face bidders openly laughing at them.

RBS are satisfied the process is proceeding towards a conclusion and will wait a few weeks more.

Until then the bidders will continue to throw mud at T&T, T&T will continue to keep their heads down, Broughton will continue to deny the media and RBS will continue to make money.

And the fans will continue to live like mushrooms.

[bunglemark2]

So, we're still no closer to ending this nightmare...

[roysreds]

When that fella was getting interviewed on ssn at the Europa draw,  he  said something about 6 weeks,

can anyone remember him saying that?

the reporter was proper grilling him, and the fella(don't know his name) was such a bad liar.

how long ago was the Europa league draw?  6 weeks from then !

[Reg]

Will Liverpool Last Another 37 Weeks Without Going into Administration?

By Willie Gannon (Featured Columnist) on August 19, 2010 0

Liverpool may have begun their season with a decent battling performance against Arsenal in their 1-1 draw on Sunday, but the many demons that haunt the club are still casting a long shadow over the famed Shankly Gates.

Despite all the doom and gloom that has surrounded the club, particularly this summer, hope is high at Anfield for the coming season. Rafael Benitez's departure may have left some fans thinking the club would then spiral uncontrollably, but if anything Roy Hodgson's signing as manager has actually helped quell those fears and install a new confidence that has been missing over the last 12 months.

When KPMG released their first audit into the bleak financial situation at Liverpool in June 2009 it seemed to spark a war of attrition between Benitez and the clubs American owners. A long running battle between the Spaniard and Rick Parry culminated with the Chief Executive tendering his resignation, however, it reached its zenith when Robbie Keane was packed off back to Spurs after the striker was used as a stick, by Rafa, to beat Parry with a board level.

It would be fair to say that the political in-fighting in the corridors of power at Anfield took some of Benitez's, and his player's, attentions away from on-field matters. Despite this, Liverpool finished a highly credible second place in the Premiership that season but the bad news had really yet to hit.

Financially, that was Liverpool's most successful season of all time with record profits of some £10 million. The scary thing was the size of the loan and the "material uncertainties" warned of by KPMG. Because, even with that record profit of £10 million Liverpool debt levels grew, substantially.


In other words, KPMG were warning the club that the very future of LFC as a whole depended upon getting into the Champions League, every year, and challenging for the league title, every year.

We all know what happened last term as the club slumped to their worst season in living memory. A seventh place finish meant that Liverpool would not be playing in the Champions League, and would not benefit from the vast amount of money to be made in Europe's elite competition.

All that within the space of 12 months and then KPMG dropped another bombshell in May of this year.

Kop Holding's recorded a record loss of £54.9 million and the club had sunk deeper into debt, from £237 million owed to Royal Bank of Scotland to £381 million in debt after the clubs loans increased by £144 million.

With RBS under intense pressure from the EU to get its house in order before 2013, after the biggest tax-payer bailout in European banking history, the club has until October to satisfy the bank by paying them back in full.

At the end of last season almost every Liverpool fan rejoiced when it appeared that the clubs debts had been reduced at the last minute from £350 million to £237 million. But it would appear that RBS forced Kop Holdings to take on the debt after Liverpool's loans from them increased from £86 million to £144 million, at a loan rate of 10 percent.


That would explain why the club are now losing around £10 million a month on interest alone. In other words, Liverpool FC is at the stage where they need loans just to pay off the interest from previous loans.

In the face of complete disaster Tom Hicks and George Gillett had contacted investment bank Goldman-Sachs about refinancing the club in February 2010.

Under the terms of the "new" takeover the £237 million debt to RBS and Wachovia would be cleared and monies for a new stadium and improving the team would be provided. All seemed to be going well until the world's biggest investment bank pulled the plug in April after concerns about the American owner’s valuations of the club.

Even for Goldman-Sachs it would appear as if Liverpool was too much of a risk.

That left Hicks and Gillett needing to pay RBS £100 million by July 2010, a deadline they did not meet.

This immediately opened the door from prospective buyers.

The Kenny Huang led China Investment Corporation was the first consortium to announce that they were interested in taking over the beleaguered club, followed closely by Yayha Kirdi entering the fray for the ruling Sharjah family from the United Arab Emirates.

As the penalty fees from RBS mount at an alarming rate it appeared that the club was willing to talk to anyone about the sale of the club.



Strangely enough, both potential investors said they would not be interested in the club if Fernando Torres was allowed to leave. Under intense pressure, as the very future of the club he loves was held in his very hand, the Spanish striker did the honourable thing and announced that his immediate future lay with the club.

A negotiation of sorts then began in the press with Huang stating that he would only pay off RBS' loans and not give Hicks and Gillett any of the £300 million to £400 million they were demanding for the sale of the club.

This left Kirdi, the only other viable suitor, in the driving seat of sorts after he had proposed to pay Hicks and Gillett the money they were asking for.

Martin Broughton, Liverpool's chairman, then asked for the Middle Eastern consortium to produce a "proof of funds" before negotiations could go any further.

That led us up to August 11 and a board meeting at Liverpool FC where Chairman Martin Broughton, owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre would all meet to discuss the sale to potential bidders.

It was also a deadline day set for the bidders to officially announce their intent.

The meeting was called off after the board noted huge doubts about the credibility of the foremost potential investors, and Liverpool limps on.



In the weeks leading up to the board meeting Martin Broughton had contacted up to six potential investors and asked them to formulate an official offer. Not one obliged.

However, when you look a little further it is perhaps easy to see why.

In the lead up to the deadline RBS renegotiated the terms of their loan and invoked a penalty clause on the club.

£110 million of the initial £237 million was converted into a payment-in-kind loan with interest of £2.5 million per week.

Effectively making RBS the king makers at Anfield.

And if the club is not sold by October 6 the bank have the power to take over and sell it for the price of their loan.

In a double whammy it would also appear that the bank have installed another penalty clause upon the club whereby if Hicks and Gillett and still in charge of the club by the end of August a fine of some £20 million must also be paid, and up to £60 million if the club remains unsold by October.

Laughably, should this occur, it would mean that RBS would have made £200 million alone on interest from a £185 million loan that was given to Hicks and Gillett in February 2007.


What all that adds up to is that any investor would be crazy to spend his millions too quickly when the club could, potentially, be picked up for far less in the last week of August or for just £237 million on October 6.


With none of the potential buyers having provided anything concrete to say they have the funds available to them there is the very real prospect that Liverpool FC could be plunged into administration come October.

If that were to happen the asking price of the club could be driven down even further, but at the cost of Champions League qualification and the loss of one or two key players at the least.

The unfortunate thing in all of this is that RBS will not care in the slightest who takes over the club once the debts are cleared. Liverpool's fans are almost guaranteed to believe that a new regime, whoever it may be, has to be better than the last after everything the club has been through, but that is not always the case.

One thing is for sure; Liverpool is one of the jewels in the crown of Premiership if not European football, and there is a major bargain to be had given the valuation of rival clubs.

However, the main problems with Liverpool when compared to its chief rivals of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal are twofold. 1) The club badly needs a new stadium and 2) The first team squad has to be radically over hauled if they are to challenge for the title.


For these two minor items an investment of near £1 billion over a period of time would not go astray.


The Allianz Arena is of a similar size stadium to what Liverpool would need and cost approximately £500 million to build from start to finish. A construction time to two to three years combined with up to five of six years of serious league winning investment could easily bring that figure higher.

The problem with Liverpool going "cheap" is that potential investors may come in and "decide" to run into similar stadium problems as Hicks and Gillett and neglect to build. This would effectively leave the potential owners in a similar position to the Americans and hoping to turn a quick profit.

The present trajectory of descent that Liverpool is on began on February 6 2007 when Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought the club. The way the club has unravelled in that short space of time is frightening to say the least and a huge warning to everyone on how the running of a club should be handled.

There is little doubt that Liverpool have been in purgatory for time and everyone associated with the club hopes the future is brighter.

But as everyone knows; the road to hell is begins with good intentions, just ask David Moores.

Link

[Reg]

Executive Former Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon Is Said to Negotiate QSL's Liverpool Bid
Aug 19, 2010

Peter Kenyon, the former Chelsea and Manchester United Chief Executive Officer, is negotiating for QSL Sports Ltd. in its bid for 18-time English soccer champion Liverpool, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Kenyon, whose teams won five league titles with him in charge, has been in talks with Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital, after they were hired by Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to sell the club in April.

Kenyon, 56, wouldn’t have a seat on Liverpool’s board if Hong Kong-based QSL bought the team, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Kenyon was named CEO at Manchester United in 2000, then joined Chelsea following billionaire Roman Abramovich’s 2003 takeover. He left the West London club last year.

Hill & Knowlton, a public relations company hired by QSL co-founder Kenny Huang, declined to comment. Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton said the club doesn’t comment on the sales process.

Hicks and Gillett bought the club in February 2007 for 219 million pounds, including debt, or $431.7 million at the exchange rate then. The team’s parent company, Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd., now had has debts of 351 million pounds ($547 million. Prospective investors must prove they’ll pay off the current owners’ 237 million-pound debt with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, fund a new stadium and pay for squad development.

RBS Debt

The RBS debt matures Oct. 6. If the club isn’t sold by then and the owners can’t get an extension, the U.K. government- controlled bank could take over Liverpool.

QSL is among as many as four bidders for the club, including Syrian Yahya Kirdi, who lives in Canada.

Liverpool’s board said in an Aug. 13 statement it was reviewing a number of bids and would take its time before recommending one.

“The board will continue to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, doing all that it can to ensure that the club is ultimately sold to a buyer who has the resources and real commitment to give it a long term, stable and secure funding position,” the board said.

The people said Kenyon, now a director at management company Creative Artists Agency, has been involved in the talks for months and was hired because of his experience in English soccer. He is charged with determining the feasibility of a bid and to understand the financial structure of Hicks and Gillett’s investment in Liverpool.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at at tpanja@bloomberg.net
++

Is the Broughton / Chelsea / Kenyon link too strong to be non-conflict of interest? Does anyone care?

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Executive Former Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon Is Said to Negotiate QSL's Liverpool Bid
Aug 19, 2010

Peter Kenyon, the former Chelsea and Manchester United Chief Executive Officer, is negotiating for QSL Sports Ltd. in its bid for 18-time English soccer champion Liverpool, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Kenyon, whose teams won five league titles with him in charge, has been in talks with Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital, after they were hired by Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks to sell the club in April.

Kenyon, 56, wouldn’t have a seat on Liverpool’s board if Hong Kong-based QSL bought the team, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Kenyon was named CEO at Manchester United in 2000, then joined Chelsea following billionaire Roman Abramovich’s 2003 takeover. He left the West London club last year.

Hill & Knowlton, a public relations company hired by QSL co-founder Kenny Huang, declined to comment. Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton said the club doesn’t comment on the sales process.

Hicks and Gillett bought the club in February 2007 for 219 million pounds, including debt, or $431.7 million at the exchange rate then. The team’s parent company, Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd., now had has debts of 351 million pounds ($547 million. Prospective investors must prove they’ll pay off the current owners’ 237 million-pound debt with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, fund a new stadium and pay for squad development.

RBS Debt

The RBS debt matures Oct. 6. If the club isn’t sold by then and the owners can’t get an extension, the U.K. government- controlled bank could take over Liverpool.

QSL is among as many as four bidders for the club, including Syrian Yahya Kirdi, who lives in Canada.

Liverpool’s board said in an Aug. 13 statement it was reviewing a number of bids and would take its time before recommending one.

“The board will continue to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, doing all that it can to ensure that the club is ultimately sold to a buyer who has the resources and real commitment to give it a long term, stable and secure funding position,” the board said.

The people said Kenyon, now a director at management company Creative Artists Agency, has been involved in the talks for months and was hired because of his experience in English soccer. He is charged with determining the feasibility of a bid and to understand the financial structure of Hicks and Gillett’s investment in Liverpool.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at at tpanja@bloomberg.net
++

Is the Broughton / Chelsea / Kenyon link too strong to be non-conflict of interest? Does anyone care?

Kenyon is everything that is wrong with football... an odious snidey little man with little morals and even less of a conscience ... I couldnt be less impressed if it was David Cameron another tw@t of the highest order ....
Yes Reg I care ..... Right that's me off down the Local for a few scoops..... thats annoyed the Fuck out of me ....