Liverpool Co-Owner Hopes Club’s Profits Cover Loan Interest

Hicks Says Liverpool FC’s Profits Will Be Used To Cover Interest Payments

Premier League club Liverpool co-Owner Tom Hicks confirmed for the first time that the club’s profits “would be used to meet the interest payments on the loan” that allowed him and co-Owner George Gillett to buy the club, according to Lawrence Donegan of the Manchester GUARDIAN. Hicks and Gillett paid US$352M for the club, borrowed from the Royal Bank of Scotland, with interest payments of about US$41.5M a year, a “business model similar to the controversial deal allowing the Glazer family to take control of Manchester United” in ’05. Hicks said, “Hopefully the club will have extra cash flow so they can pay us a dividend to do that. If they don’t, then it will come from our pockets. But the club will have to have profits sufficient to pay those dividends.” Meanwhile, Donegan noted Hicks and Gillett have been “welcomed with open arms in England,” unlike the Glazers. Hicks said, “There were fans who honestly believed that, if an American owner came in and borrowed some of the purchase price, it could be the end of the club’s success. I think things changed when people saw that the Glazers didn’t necessarily turn out to be the end of Manchester football” (Manchester GUARDIAN, 5/22).

LOOKING FORWARD: Hicks and Gillett said that there is “no specific pot of money” set aside for team rebuilding plans. In London, David Bond reports while they are “prepared to finance big spending on big names if necessary, Hicks and Gillett are determined to revamp the club’s academy to ensure a more fruitful flow of first-team players from the youth system” (London TELEGRAPH, 5/23).