Liverpool's Loan Issues Could Force Hicks, Gillett To Sell Club
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| Loan Issues Cloud Liverpool FC's Future |
Investment firm Seymour Pierce Chair Keith Harris, who has advised on recent English Premier League (EPL) ownership takeovers, said that he has "doubts about whether Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Wachovia, buffeted by the worldwide financial crisis, were either willing or able to refinance the loans which are currently propping up" EPL club Liverpool FC, according to Herbert & Warshaw of the London INDEPENDENT. Harris, speaking yesterday at the Int'l Football Arena conference in Zurich, said of EPL clubs, "The one that worries me is Liverpool. The principal lenders (RBS and Wachovia) are two of those that have suffered. Whether they want to lend it again or not, they may not be able to." Harris said that "without fresh investment," Liverpool co-Owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett "could be forced to sell players." If neither "refinancing, nor new financial stakeholders can be found, the banks must consider whether to repossess the club." Harris: "It's a brave banker that would repossess Liverpool" (London INDEPENDENT, 11/12). In London, Mike Norrish reports Hicks and Gillett reportedly by January have to repay a US$536.6M loan to RBS and Wachovia. Harris said, "What normally happens in business is, if the banks won't finance, you have to raise equity." The "most obvious way for a football club to raise equity in the short-term would be to sell players," but the other option would be to "sell the club." Harris: "It has never been more difficult to find buyers. It's no longer a question of price negotiation -- it's 'should we?' People are wondering if now is the time to spend" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/12).
BUYERS WANTED: Harris yesterday indicated that he is "making 'no progress at all' with finding a buyer" for EPL club Everton because the team is "not an attractive enough financial investment." Harris said of Everton, "The demographics of Liverpool as a city are not hugely compelling. It is not a very wealthy city. Everton share the city with another club which arguably has been in the vanguard for the last decade, and they both have a stadium to build. So the economics need a lot of looking at." Harris also has been hired to seek a buyer for EPL club Newcastle United and said the team is "still an attractive proposition, given that they have a 52,000-seat stadium in a one-club city." Harris said there was "an interest from two parties, wealthy investment funds, not from the Middle East." Harris indicated that AEG Chair Philip Anschutz, "reported to be interested, was not one of them" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 11/12). AEG in a statement said, "Neither AEG nor anyone affiliated with the organization are in negotiations or are contemplating the purchase of Newcastle United Football Club” (LATIMES.com, 11/11).
PASS-PORT: A spokesperson for South Africa-based Central Rand Gold (CRG) CEO Greg James confirmed that James last week met with EPL club Portsmouth FC Owner Alexandre Gaydamak. But the spokesperson indicated that James was "simply acting as an adviser" to South African-based sports management agency Prosport Int'l in "regards to the upcoming transfer window" in January. CRG in a statement denied that James or the company "wanted to buy a football club." In London, Nick Szczepanik notes it is "known that there are wealthy South Africans keen to move" into the EPL, but "whether James agrees that a reported asking price of [US$107.1M] represents good business remains to be seen" (LONDON TIMES, 11/12).
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