Source: Daily_Mail
Liverpool deal on brink of collapse: US buyers will walk away if club are docked points
Liverpool's £300 million sale to New England Sports Ventures is on the brink of collapse because of fears that the club will be placed in administration and docked nine points by the Premier League.[LNB] While NESV remain committed to buying the club in their current position, they are not prepared to take the added risk of paying a fortune for a team that would be in genuine danger of being relegated to the Championship.[LNB]Rescuing Liverpool is like trying to stop the Titanic from sinking... Up in smoke: Red Sox owner John W Henry could pull out of Liverpool deal[LNB]The Mail on Sunday understands that NESV, owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, were led to believe that Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton had the authority to sell the club to them and that a protracted legal battle was unlikely. [LNB]But after a week of dramatic developments, in which owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have opposed the sale by taking action in the High Court - a case which is due to be heard this week - it has become clear that if the sale is blocked RBS will consider calling in their £237m debt, which is due this Friday.[LNB] That would mean placing the club in administration, which would almost certainly result in a nine-point deduction by the Premier League.[LNB] On current points tallies, that would leave Liverpool at the bottom of the table on minus-three points.[LNB]It was that development which has led NESV to conclude that they will not buy the club out of administration as they would not wish to take on the extra risk raised by the spectre of relegation. This week's showdown in the High Court is, therefore, shaping up to be one of the most significant days in the history of the club driven to greatness by Bill Shankly.[LNB] If Hicks and Gillett win the case, the club will be left with no means to pay their debts and no potential buyers.[LNB] Facing the axe: Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson[LNB] RBS, a state-owned bank, would then be placed in the invidious position of either calling in the debt, which would place the club in administration, or agreeing to extend the loan and allowing Hicks and Gillett to continue running the club.[LNB] Earlier in the week Broughton said: 'It (going into administration) has always been an issue. We have tried to deliver a sale to the owners before the loan comes up for repayment, which is on October 15.[LNB] 'We don't have the capacity to repay the loan so that leaves RBS with the options of rolling over the loan or putting the club into administration or finding some other exit.'[LNB] If Hicks and Gillett do win the court case, Broughton, appointed as the club's independent chairman in April this year with the task of overseeing the sale process, would almost certainly have to resign, with his allies on the board, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre, also being removed by the High Court order.[LNB] According to sources close to the club's advisors, Liverpool have only a '50-50' chance of winning this week's High Court showdown.[LNB] Despite the outward display of confidence from Broughton that the club will be sold to NESV, advisors working for Liverpool's de facto board have privately acknowledged that Hicks and Gillett have a good chance of winning in court and blocking the proposed sale. [LNB] Des Kelly: Is John W Henry a smoker without fire for Liverpool? Liverpool 'can show Tom Hicks and George Gillett lied' over loading debt onto clubLiverpool takeover: How can they save the club that Bill Shankly built? Premier League give thumbs up for would-be owners to buy LiverpoolHow Henry turned around the fortunes of another great club in decline[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Tom Hicks, Martin Broughton, George Gillett, Bill Shankly Places: Liverpool Organisations: Boston Red Sox
