January 13 – Liverpool FC has settled out of court its dispute with former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett (pictured) after two years of bitter recriminations following the sale of the club in 2010.
Hicks and Gillett were forced into the sale of the club after a legal campaign that ended in a fierce High Court battle. The case was brought by RBS who were owed £235 million.
Sir Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre were all directors at Liverpool and supported the sale of the club.
The outcome of the court case resulted in a swap from one set of American owners to another. New England Sports Ventures, now known as Fenway Sports Group, bought the club for £300m.
Hicks and Gillett subsequently made a number of claims against Broughton, Purslow and Ayre. Ayre is now Liverpool’s managing director.
The club have said that those claims have now been dropped. A club statement said: “In October 2010, Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Limited was sold to the Fenway Sports Group. As a consequence of that sale, Thomas Hicks and George Gillett [being the former owners of Liverpool FC] made a number of allegations and claims against Sir Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre [being the company directors responsible for the sale of Liverpool FC to the Fenway Sports Group].
“Those allegations and claims were denied by Messrs Broughton, Purslow and Ayre … and resulted in legal proceedings being commenced.
“The parties have now agreed a settlement [the terms of which are confidential]. All claims and allegations made against Messrs Broughton, Purslow and Ayre have been withdrawn by Messrs Hicks and Gillett and all legal proceedings between the parties concluded.”
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