Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC's American owners may have just 17 days left at Anfield
George Gillett and Tom Hicks 300[LNB]LIVERPOOL FC's American co-owners may have just 17 days left in control at Anfield.[LNB]The deadline for repaying their £237m debt, the majority of which is held by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), expires next month.[LNB]October 6 has long been the deadline day in many fans' diaries for Tom Hicks and George Gillett to repay their debts. But the ECHO understands that Friday, October 15 is the earliest date the Americans debt will be called in by chief creditor, RBS.[LNB]And even that provisional deadline is likely to slip a further seven days as the bank seeks to facilitate an orderly transition of power at the club.[LNB] It is understood that the bank would rather that the club is sold to a new owner by October 15.[LNB]But given the over-optimistic £600m-plus valuations that Hicks, in particular, has placed on the club it remains likely that a sale will not be complete by that deadline.[LNB]Potential bidders will not pay over the odds and are waiting to snap up the club for the cheapest possible price.Talks with two serious prospective bidders are thought to be at a relatively advanced stage, although formal offers are a way off. Chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow, and commercial director Ian Ayre are understood to be keen to not just accept the highest bid.[LNB]Instead the trio, who have a majority on the board, want to secure investment in the playing squad and a new stadium as well as paying off the club's debts.[LNB]It has been suggested the lower of two rival bids may be more attractive to the Liverpool board, if it was considered that it would put the club on a firm footing for the future.[LNB]Ultimately the bank could force the holding company which owns LFC into administration and seek to sell the club itself, but this is seen as a last resort.[LNB]The prospect of getting little or no profit from the sale of the club has led to Hicks carrying out a worldwide trawl in a bid to refinance the debt.[LNB]It is feared the creation of an investment company Hicks Acquisition II is part of his plan to retain control.
