Editor’s note: This story is revised from the print edition.
A New York state court judge has issued a ruling that sets up a hearing over whether Boston Red Sox owner John Henry should be deposed as it pertains to his sports holding company having purchased Liverpool FC in 2010.
Henry has resisted efforts to depose him, according to filings made by Mill Financial, which is suing Liverpool lender Royal Bank of Scotland for allegedly orchestrating a below-market sale in 2010 to Henry’s company, now called Fenway Sports Group. FSG is not a defendant.
A spokesman for FSG said the firm would not comment.
The ruling from New York State Supreme Court Judge Eileen Bransten means that Henry could be required to sit for a deposition about his knowledge of the process that led to his company buying Liverpool. The ruling sets up a hearing in which attorneys will argue the question of whether Henry should, or should not, be deposed.
Mill, a lender to previous Liverpool co-owner George Gillett, contends RBS violated an agreement between the lenders and arranged the sale to Henry at a below-market rate and ignored Mill’s own offer for the fabled team.
RBS took over the team after Gillett and co-owner Tom Hicks defaulted on their debt.
There was also a new disclosure in the case last week through a letter Mill’s representation sent to Bransten. In that letter, Mill said it discovered that shortly before taking over the sales process in 2010, RBS moved the Liverpool credit into a “toxic asset unit” that would have necessitated a distressed sale.
“Mill has learned through discovery that credit facilities, such as the LFC Facility, are transferred to the [toxic asset unit] either to be restructured or sold at a distressed price — which is precisely what Mill alleges occurred here,” Mill’s counsel wrote.
Mill’s $70 million loan to Gillett was wiped out in the wake of the Liverpool sale. It is suing to reclaim that money from RBS, plus interest and damages.
