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Americans to seal today Liverpool takeover
England - 05 February, 2007
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Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks convinced English Liverpool to delay finalising a takeover deal with Dubai International Capital (DIC) when they flew to England last week for a clandestine meeting with Liverpool officials.
Gillett and Hicks are to submit today a formal bid worth GBP 470m for the Premiership club.
Chairman David Moores, is expected to convene a board meeting today to confirm his commitment to the sports franchise owners' offer, accepting some GBP 88 million for his 51.6% shareholding in the club. Hicks and Gillett are expected to hold a press conference confirming that their bid has been accepted by the majority shareholder on Tuesday.
Hicks and Gillett will split the GBP 470 million takeover on a 50-50 basis with GBP 215 million of that allocated for a new stadium.
Gillett owns National Hockey League Montreal Canadiens while Hicks owns rival NHL Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers baseball club.
Hicks has a reputation for developing state-of-the-art new stadia for his clubs and his involvement was a key factor in Liverpool deciding to go with the US bid.
The other issue that wrapped up the deal is the two men guaranteed that Liverpool's new stadium at Stanley Park would not be on a groundshare basis, which had been Gillett's original idea when he was considering the takeover on his own.
Gillett impressed Liverpool with his suggestions for the club and with being able to complete due diligence, the process of investigation by potential investors, in three days.
The 68-year-old Gillett also stressed his experience in running successful sporting operations.
However, the Independent has claimed that Gillett's business empire collapsed in 1992, leading to a GBP 33.7 million personal bankruptcy.
Gillett and Hicks have worked together in the past when they served on the same board of a major US meat-processing firm.
The idea to take over Liverpool gathered momentum when the two met at the NHL All-Star Game.
It would be the first time that two owners of rival sports clubs in the same league have united to purchase a club in another league.
Gillett and Hicks are to submit today a formal bid worth GBP 470m for the Premiership club.
Chairman David Moores, is expected to convene a board meeting today to confirm his commitment to the sports franchise owners' offer, accepting some GBP 88 million for his 51.6% shareholding in the club. Hicks and Gillett are expected to hold a press conference confirming that their bid has been accepted by the majority shareholder on Tuesday.
Hicks and Gillett will split the GBP 470 million takeover on a 50-50 basis with GBP 215 million of that allocated for a new stadium.
Gillett owns National Hockey League Montreal Canadiens while Hicks owns rival NHL Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers baseball club.
Hicks has a reputation for developing state-of-the-art new stadia for his clubs and his involvement was a key factor in Liverpool deciding to go with the US bid.
The other issue that wrapped up the deal is the two men guaranteed that Liverpool's new stadium at Stanley Park would not be on a groundshare basis, which had been Gillett's original idea when he was considering the takeover on his own.
Gillett impressed Liverpool with his suggestions for the club and with being able to complete due diligence, the process of investigation by potential investors, in three days.
The 68-year-old Gillett also stressed his experience in running successful sporting operations.
However, the Independent has claimed that Gillett's business empire collapsed in 1992, leading to a GBP 33.7 million personal bankruptcy.
Gillett and Hicks have worked together in the past when they served on the same board of a major US meat-processing firm.
The idea to take over Liverpool gathered momentum when the two met at the NHL All-Star Game.
It would be the first time that two owners of rival sports clubs in the same league have united to purchase a club in another league.
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