Liverpool FC Forum

[Ace Ventura]

Well done (that seems like a massive understatement) to everyone who went there.

I am proud of you all and if i didnt have my kids i would of been there myself.

[Ciggy]

More than 300 Liverpool fans spent yesterday posting eviction notices at Anfield, demanding repossession of the club, and the pressure on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the warring American owners, will increase with the publication of their first set of accounts.

Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd, one of the club’s parent companies, made a £33 million loss in the year ending July 31, 2007, according to accounts submitted to Companies House last week. The club’s £350 million loans will also have to be refinanced as early as January and the club must pay interest on a £64 million loan from Kop Football Ltd, its immediate parent company.

The accounts reveal that the owners wrote off £10.3 million when they scrapped the club’s design for a new stadium after their takeover in February 2007 and Liverpool fans will be irked to learn that the co-owners claimed more than £1.4 million in expenses in the seven-month period concerned.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol....788.ece

[NANNY RED]

More than 300 Liverpool fans spent yesterday posting eviction notices at Anfield, demanding repossession of the club, and the pressure on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the warring American owners, will increase with the publication of their first set of accounts.

Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd, one of the club’s parent companies, made a £33 million loss in the year ending July 31, 2007, according to accounts submitted to Companies House last week. The club’s £350 million loans will also have to be refinanced as early as January and the club must pay interest on a £64 million loan from Kop Football Ltd, its immediate parent company.

The accounts reveal that the owners wrote off £10.3 million when they scrapped the club’s design for a new stadium after their takeover in February 2007 and Liverpool fans will be irked to learn that the co-owners claimed more than £1.4 million in expenses in the seven-month period concerned.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol....788.ece

WTF. 1.4 million in expenses .

Cheeky .

Well in to everyone who attended today . That includes a couple of our lads . They dont uses the forums but i phoned them ladt night an told them what was goin on and they showed there support today.

Keep up the good work

[account deleted by request]

Ripped from RAWK


Headline figures as at 31 July 2007

Group net debt £244m

In the period to takeover (23rd March 2007) the club had made a pre-tax loss of £5.3m

£8.6m of interest was charge, of which £7m was paid (remaining accrued at the balance sheet date)

In the period 23rd March to 31st July 2007 the club spent £54.5m gross on players, £33m net

There is c£50m of goodwill to be amortised off over a 20 year period (subject to impairments)

On the initial credit facility of £296.5m the interest was charged at 3 Month Libor plus 1.5%

The company Kop Football (Holdings) Limited were charged £1.529m for transaction related & personal expenses and reimbursable travel.  This was split as £331k for Hicks, £1.198m for Gillett.

Now for the big information

The group have set up a credit facility with RBS and Wachovia (although RBS primarily) of £350.5m.  Slit as £245m by Kop Football Limited (the immediate holding company of LFC) and £105m for LFC.

£185m of this is secured by letters of credit and personal guarantees of Hicks & Gillett.  This amount relates solely to the purchase consideration.

The remaining debt is to be secured against club assets.

By the time the accounts were signed off £245m was drawndown by Kop Football Limited, and only £14.4m had been drawn down by LFC.  This, along with an intercompany loan from Kop Football (Cayman) Limited of £43.5m were used to pay off the original facility with RBS, the clubs existing facilities with Bank of Ireland and the fees relating to the refinancing.

This new credit facility is due for repayment on 24 January 2009 with the ability to extend to 24 July 2009 by written request.

This debt incurs an interest charge of Libor plus 3.5% and is payable at various times as selected by Kop Football Limited and the club(subject to a maturity deadline).

On the 31st January KFL entered into a Master Swap agreement with both RBS and Wachovia.  This was aimed at fixing the rate of interest paid on the debt.  RBS provided a swap for £183.75m at a fixed rate of 4.957%.  Wachovia provided a swap for £61.25m at a fixed rate of 4.975%.  Both swaps mature on 31 January 2011.  this means the maximum interest rate paid on the £245m is 8.475%, although it will likely be lower than this.

Also on 31st January the Club entered into a Forward Start Swaption Collar for the stadium part of the credit facility.  This Swaption gives the club the right, but not the obligation, to pay a fixed range of interest on the credit facility.  RBS provide 75% of the swaption, Wachovia provide 25% of it.  The RBS collar is at 4.335 to 6.00%, the Wachovia is at 4.34 to 6.00%.  It is cash settled on the 31 July 2009 and terminates on 31 July 2037.  This in effect means the club could cap the interest rate for the stadium facility to 6% (plus margin between the libor leg of the swap and the rate payable on the loan)

With the Swaption in place it protects the club from rising rates during construction, and if rates fall and they can refinance they don't need to use the swap.

[Reg]

Someone in the Hicks team STILL doesnt get it..........

"There is c£50m of goodwill to be amortised off over a 20 year period (subject to impairments)"


Goodwill my asre.

[66-1112520797]

Fair play to those who demonstrated. 

[RUSHIE#9]

These two really have gone too far now: 

US owners' £1.2m claims from Liverpool FC accounts
Jun 9 2008 By David Prentice


LIVERPOOL’S American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have incurred £1.2m in personal claims in their first seven months of ownership at Anfield.

The Kop Holdings Ltd figures, which also show a £33m loss on the year ending July 31, 2007, include transaction, travel and personal claims.

The accounts, the first set released by Kop Holdings, show that from December 2006 to July 31 2007, £823,000 was incurred by George Gillett for “transaction related expenses” – understood to be claims built up during the acquisition of the club – and a further £375,000 for “reimbursable travel, legal, personnel and other expenses.”

As at July 31, 2007 £100,000 of these amounts were listed as unpaid.

During the same period the company incurred £133,000 for transaction related expenses on Tom Hicks’s behalf and £198,000 for reimbursable travel, legal and other expenses.

£244,000 of these amounts were listed as unpaid at July 31, 2007.

The accounts also show that during the January refinancing of the club, an inter-company loan of £64m was made, seemingly to service the interest repayments incurred.

The ownership of the club is a complicated structure split into five elements – with Kop Investment LLC being the parent company supporting four subsidiaries, ending with Liverpool Football Club.

Kop Holdings, the company two levels above LFC, lent the club £64m over three years for the apparent purpose of servicing the interest repayments of the refinance, believed to be around £30m each year.

The outlook for the financial future at Anfield is not likely to improve, piling even more pressure on Hicks and Gillett.

The club’s £350m loans may also have to be refinanced as early as January, meaning another intensive search for backers by Hicks and Gillett may need to begin again almost as soon as the season kicks off.

With no sign of the worldwide credit crunch easing, this could be a difficult quest for the club.

The accounts also reveal that the owners wrote off £10.3m when they scrapped the club’s design for a new stadium after their takeover in February 200, and the likelihood of work beginning any time soon on the new stadium is remote.

Hicks and Gillett remain at loggerheads with each other, further complicating the picture and leaving Anfield’s financial future clouded with uncertainty.

Fans’ anger at costs

JAY McKenna, spokesman for LFC supporters’ union group Spirit of Shankly, said: “It’s an absolute disgrace.

“They’re not just wasting the club’s time in delaying the potential sale of the club, but now it appears they’re wasting the club’s money as well.”

LFC fan and musician Peter Hooton said: “This proves the point again how the Americans have been unwilling to spend a dime of their own money since they arrived.

“Private jets and top hotels must be expensive.”

 

If anybody wasn't already convinced that these to numpties were screwing the club out of every penny it's got then surely there can be no more doubts.

Source: Liverpool Echo

[heimdall]

So do people still think that Gillet is the nicer guy in all of this? 
Why don't they just sell up, I really do not understand why they are still here, it makes no sense at all, they have a buyer, they'll both make some good money and they can leave all the stress behind.

[GRAHAM01]

because they are a pair of prize prats that would like to get every penny they can get there grubby slimmy little hands on

[RUSHIE#9]

because they are a pair of prize prats that would like to get every penny they can get there grubby slimmy little hands on

Spot on, I also think that it's a lot about ego now.

We know that THICKS has an ego bigger than the grand canyon and it's starting to sound like GILLETT (the worst a football club a can get™) is no better. The longer this goes on the darker the days ahead get!!

At least under Moores the club mostly pissed money away on really poor players and their wages, we haven't even got enough to piss away on another Torben Piechnick anymore!!
The longer these two are in charge the team will be turning up for games on local buses!!

[stmichael]

They are both complete tools and are making a mockery of this great club.

It's shocking that the stadium re-re-design cost the club more than £10 million, especially considering it was nothing more than a stalling tactic to try and placate the fans.

Put it another way, thats possibly the difference between selling and not selling Xabi Alonso.

[GRAHAM01]

i think you are right about there egos getting the better of them, i think gillett is the bigger ego as i think he was all for saling to dic until hicks said buy buy partner i'm staying for a few more bucks, so gillett went ok if you can do it so can i and now i think it is just who will be the bigger man and say balls to this i want the money now and screw you

either one of them goes then the other will follow with a big head thinking they got the upper hand, but in the mean time are beloved club goes down the shitter because of it

[Reg]

Isnt it inevitable that if you sell to a foreigner they will fail to understand the local feeling and treat it as a franchise?

Wouldnt DIC be the same?

[GRAHAM01]

yes you maybe right ? but they would have money that they can buy great players with to build up there franchise unlike h/g who in truth have! and continue! to give us bugger all

dic may not be the best ( or they maybe ) but it is the best that we could hope for at the moment

[RUSHIE#9]

Isnt it inevitable that if you sell to a foreigner they will fail to understand the local feeling and treat it as a franchise?

Wouldnt DIC be the same?

It's a fair point REG and right now we can't say one way or the other. Then again the way things are panning out with stadler and waldorf wouldn't you sooner take that chance than stick with these two and see the club run into the ground like they are doing.
It may all be a charm offensive just like the terrible two did when they arrived, but DIC have already opened more corridors of communication with the fans directly than our "beloved"    custodians have and listening to SOS they are very happy with what they are hearing.

DIC may also just see LFC as a franchise/brand name that they can make money out of but they appear to realise that they are gonna have to dig deep themsleves to make money.

No matter what side of the fence you sit on it's all a case of making sure one thing happens above all else. Liverpool Football Club be allowed to return to the once great institution that it was and not being gang raped by egotistical business men trying to gain a quick profit.