By Andrew Warshaw
April 16 – Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have given in to mounting pressure by agreeing to sell up, ending a long-running dispute over their suitability to run one of the world’s most iconic clubs.
After finishing second in the Premier League last season, the debt-ridden club are almost certain to miss out on the highly lucrative Champions League this season amid reports that manager Rafa Benitez is considering quitting to take over at Juventus.
Liverpool’s debt is estimated at £237 million ($366 million), the prime reason why the club has been left behind on the field.
Hicks and Gillett will argue that they have provided Benitez with over £200 million ($309 million) to spend on new players, many of whom have proved flops.
But it is no secret the owners have been keen to attract new investors to reduce the debt – resulting from their leveraged takeover in 2007 – and raise finances to build a new stadium to replace Anfield.
After three troubled years in charge, Hicks and Gillett, who have not always seen eye to eye, have become objects of anger and resentment among the fans, with banners and placards calling for them to end their involvement on Merseyside.
They now seem to have got the message.
British Airways chairman Martin Broughton has been appointed Liverpool’s new chairman and handed the task of overseeing the sale of the Anfield outfit.
Hicks and Gillett say there have already been “numerous expressions of interest” ands that the move had the full support of the club’s existing bankers.
In a statement, they said: “Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families.
“Having grown the club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the club to owners committed to take the club through its next level of growth and development.
“We are delighted that Martin Broughton (pictured) has agreed to take the position of chairman, working alongside the club’s excellent senior management team.
“Martin is a distinguished business leader of excellent judgment and with a great reputation.
“He is a genuine football supporter and will seek to oversee the sales process in the best interests of the club and its supporters.”
Broughton will work with a new investment bank, Barclays Capital, in the search for a new buyer – most likely from the Middle East - in an attempt not only to persuade Benitez to stay on and fulfil his four-year contract that ends in 2014 but also to placate fans who will be expecting a sizeable transfer budget in the summer to allow Liverpool, which has 18 domestic league titles but has not won one since 1990, to compete with their Premiership rivals.
The decision by Hicks and Gillett to sever their involvement will not be lost on Liverpool’s main rivals Manchester United, the majority of whose fans are desperate for the Glazer family to do the same in order to usher in a new start.
In recent weeks, the Red Knights consortium – led by investment guru Keith Harris – have been constantly in the limelight as they try to find a way to force the Glazers out despite assurances from United chief executive David Gill that the owners are going nowhere.
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