Is Hicks the stumbling block in new investment

The latest Liverpool investment speculation continues to stay uppermost in LFC media coverage, with indications from the Saudi group that Tom Hicks personal financial motivation continues to provide a stumbling block.

Barry Didato who is a senior director with the F6 investment firm said:

“Right now George has a lot of ongoing issues with his existing partner, and he is working through those with the banks and Premier League.

“Prince Faisal has said we’re keeping a very open-door policy to it, but that the existing partnership should not look to him being a solution to Liverpool’s balance sheet and there are some balance sheet issues yet to be resolved.”

George Gillett meanwhile insists that investment in Liverpool FC wasn’t even discussed at the meeting – contrary to what has been coming from the Saudi firm

“We had a marvellous meeting with them on Saturday and they were impressed with the club, but the academies in Saudi Arabia and North Africa and their possible involvement in NASCAR-type racing in the Middle East were the only items on the agenda.

And muddying the waters even more it seems that the banks, who currently appear to hold all the power, are believed to have warned Hicks and Gillett that they cannot continue to operate Liverpool with such stratospheric debts.

George Gillett recently received around £300M for selling his Montreal Canadiens team, and Tom Hicks is also due for a similar sized windfall when he completes the sale of the Texas Rangers.

Liverpool FC are currently in debt to the tune of around £260M. Around £220M more than when Hicks and Gillett walked through the door promising not to put the club in debt.

12 comments on
Is Hicks the stumbling block in new investment

  1. We are not happy to continue hearing and reading the same issue
    Hicks and Gillet must do something as soon as possible,They should
    consider the fans and the player because this is affecting the moral
    in the camp,earnestly we are tired of reading the clubs financial crisis issue,they should have resolved it way back.

  2. Can i ask David Lowe one question and this comes from a personnel opinion having gone across to Anfield last Saturday from Ireland?
    Is Hicks & Gillett any different from the 100s of local so called Liverpool supporters i watched last Friday & Saturday morning, collect tickets from the ticket office and then sell them directly to touts for profit or look for £100 per ticket. Alot of people are living off LFC and bleeding the well dry, supporters included (Minority i have to say).
    I did not get to see the game as i refused to support this culture. The fans need to look at themselves also.
    I strongly disagree with the way Hicks & Gillett are acting but at the top level of business, humanity etc does not matter. Name any sugar daddy in the history of the EPL who has bought or invested in a club for the love of the game. I cant think of one because they all seem to want to live a personnal dream and gain self glorification.
    I dont blame Hicks & Gillett. I blame Moores & Parry. They took the dollar and ran. They are the ones who sold a club, culture & history with one swipe of a pen. I reakon if they had held onto to LFC we would have been dead & buried by now. At the moment we are on a life support machine. The banks are nobodies friend and will never call in a loan. Instead they will wait for the clubs (LFC, Man Utd, etc) to default and then take action.

    The game of football and all involved needs a total reality check. The money, gread and egos need to be deflated.
    That not just goes for the likes of our American friends but the Managers, Players, Agents, Owners, EPL, The FA and especially the fans.
    All this Net transfer spend for example is B-llshi-t because it never takes into consideration the agents fees, signing on fees, wages, contract renewals etc. If the ELP asked every club to balance their books on June 1st each year, the landscape would be completely different.

    13 years ago today, Arsenal were in the same boat. Unlucky for us, they got a manager like Wenger but since then have shown a positive tranfer spend, built a new stadium, owe more money that us but have a bright future. They never sold their soul or looked to the far east.

    Mark my words, when the bubble bursts in the middle east, i dont want any prince owning LFC. In life, you get nothing for nothing. These boys have become rich from oil and the lifestyle it allows but like the well we fans keep tapping, oil will run dry too.

  3. While I agree with a lot of what has been stated. The blame rests surely with David Moores. This is a family who have been made very wealthy by their investments in Liverpool and Everton football clubs alike. However, they were lured by the even greater return to themselves and not the fans. This was a leveraged buyout from day one(no money down). While the current owners do not share or understand the pride and passion LFC represents, Mr Moores does. My recollection of the DIC transaction is they conducted themselves most professionally but were blindsided.

  4. I thin we have always known from early on, once all the early talk and promises had faded away and became classed as a complete load of rubbish. Hicks and Gillett do not see eye to eye, you suspect that Hicks sides with Rafa because he knows the vast majority of fans support him, whilst Gillett has the characteristics of a man who believes that he will not tolerate any criticism and resorts to blaming Hicks whenever he is asked a question which highlights the paird inability to run the club properly and professionally. On Saturday when the Saudi Prince was at the ground people were threatened with eviction and arrest if they did not put the banners of protest against the two muppets away. I think George has got to realise that he is dealing with scousers who have got more savy than he has in his little finger. Yes we want Hicks and Gillett out of our club, should never have hd hold of it in the first place and DIC should have been the owners and would have supported Rafa in the construction of the team and we certainly would have had our new ground practically finished.

  5. they both should sell, as they will never be welcome at anfield. both lied, and they donot have the money to take us forward. both are not to be trusted why don,t they just move on and give every liverpool fan hope again. i do not know one person who wants them anywere near anfield them or there kin…

  6. It looks as though one or both of the Americans not only want to have bought the club with someone else’s money, but that they want others to continue financing their reign.

    I have serious doubts whether anyone would want to buy into a club with these debts when it looks like the would have to 1) pay for a share, 2) pay to reduce the debt, 3) pay for the new stadium, and 4) pay for new players to keep the club competitive.

    We have seen that the Americans do not have the means to do any of these things (see- no stadium, skyrocketing debt, £20mil for players per season, refusal to invest any money from the sales of their other assets)

    I’m even getting annoyed writing this- their entire ownership of the club has been non stop lies, deceipt and betrayal.

  7. I think it is time the banks forced the americans to sell the club, or to use their recent windfalls to pay off the debt completely. If they do not pay off the debt prior to “THE WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS OPENING” as quoted by them several weeks ago, we will be in similar debt to Man Utd, with considerably less income. The only good news since they came in is the new shirt sponsor. Like I read on a forum elsewhere, this could contribute hugley to the sales in the asian base as most places prohibit the advertisement of alcohol.

    • The sad fact of the “shirt sponsorship deal” is that it is down to the hard work of Christian Purslow ( thats his name rite ?) and nothing to do with the american owners . In fact what is it exactly they have done since their arrival, other than dumping the club rite in it financially ?.

      With these people acting the way they have it’s clear to me that they have made most of their money through liquidation rather than actual genuine investment in an institution or commodity. I mean the way these so called businessmen bicker with each-other it is amazing that they still have money?………..no………….wait their milking our club arn’t they !!!! completely ridiculous.

      ‘Watchdog” anyone ?

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