Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has made a bid to buy all or part of George Gillett Jr's share of the Premier League club, a source has said.
Hicks is still negotiating with Gillett after the duo turned down a ?400 million (US$791 million) offer for the English club from Dubai International Capital, a person involved with the negotiations said on Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
It was unclear if Hicks is planning to buy all or only part of Gillett's 50 percent stake.
Earlier, Hicks "turned down their [DIC's] offer immediately upon receipt," the person said, adding that the Texan is still willing to allow Gillett to sell 49 percent of the club as long as Hicks gets the other 1 percent.
Hicks and Gillett have the power to block each other from selling.
Hicks, however, doesn't believe DIC will want to buy only 49 percent of the club, reflecting the consortium's insistence that its bid is reliant on being the majority stake-holder.
"They [DIC] want control but they can't get it," the person said.
DIC has a team of lawyers locked in negotiations, an executive working on the bid said.
Gillett has been in close contact with DIC in recent weeks after deciding to end his troubled spell at Anfield. Hicks, however, has said he is committed to retaining his share of Liverpool.
The DIC bid emerged after chief executive Sameer al-Ansari said Monday that Hicks and Gillett had "come out of dreamland" over the worth of the Premier League club.
Hicks revealed in January that he had spoken to DIC about a "10 to 15 percent participation" but that his valuation was deemed to be too high.
Since then, however, Hicks has said he is committed to retaining his share of Liverpool and told the press that he anticipates taking a "more active role" with the 18-time English champions.
JP Morgan Chase & Co have been tasked with raising funds by trying to attract market interest in new shares in the Hicks Sports Group, which includes his US sports franchises.
Uncertainty in the global markets prevented the investment bankers in January from attracting interest in a private placement. But they have been back at Anfield in recent weeks to update the figures to facilitate Hicks raising the funds to take sole control of the club.
Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool for ?218.9 million in March last year. This included an agreement to pay off about ?45 million in debt and a pledge to build and finance a new stadium.
Liverpool fans originally embraced the American owners but then turned on them after their public feud with popular manager Rafa Benitez over transfers, leading to demonstrations.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
RSS