LONDON: The Liverpool board have agreed the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV), the owners of Major League Baseball`s Boston Red Sox, the English Premier League club said on Wednesday.
However, the sale may not be straightforward as the club will first have to resolve a legal dispute with the current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who had sought to sack members of the board in a final bid to keep control of the club on Tuesday.
The proposed sale has the support of the club`s major creditor Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton said he was disappointed the current owners had "tried everything to prevent the deal from happening" but added the agreement offered a good solution for a side enduring its worst start to a season for more than half a century.
"I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process, which has been thorough and extensive," Broughton said in a statement on the club`s website (www.liverpoolfc.tv).
The legal dispute over board membership will be a key part of whether the sale actually goes ahead.
On Tuesday, Hicks and Gillett sought to remove managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre from the board, seeking to replace them with Mack Hicks and Lori Kay McCutcheon.
"The legal battle is critical," said Wyn Grant, professor of football economics at Warwick University. "If the NESV deal doesn`t go through RBS may ultimately intervene."
Hicks and Gillett bought the Merseyside club in February 2007 for 218.9 million pounds and have been unpopular with fans for burdening the club with debt, leaving little money in the transfer pot.
FAN PROTESTS
Fans have held many protests calling for their departure, blaming the club`s poor on-field performances on a lack of new players and could be nervous that they will be getting yet more American owners.
"The board decided to accept NESV`s proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV`s philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at Red Sox," Broughton said.
NESV is headed by John W Henry and Tom Werner. In 2004, two years after they took over the Red Sox, the team won their first World Series since 1918. They then secured the title again in 2007.
Hicks and Gillett instructed Barclays Capital in April to find a buyer and appointed British Airways Chairman Broughton to oversee the sale. Local media reported they had been looking for around 600 million pounds.
The five-times European champions owe 237 million pounds to RBS, which has set a deadline of October 15 for the debt to be refinanced and Broughton said the agreement removed the burden of acquisition debt
banglanews24.com.bd/Reuters
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