For the third time. Sold to any investor or consortium who can meet Tom Hicks and Geoge Gillett’s asking price of £500 million. Barclays Capital has been hired to find an owner and if all goes smoothly, the Americans may be out of Anfield within the year.
The Rhone Group deal fell through last week because they were unwilling to pay more for their minority stake.
However, the more short term crisis is the continued re-financing of the loans by the banks. So far, it appears RBS might be on board on assurances given by the owners that they are genuinely keen on selling off the club but Wachovia is proving to be more intransigent. The American bank has a 25% share of the loans.
The big disconnect is between the owner valuation and independent valuations that put the club’s worth at £300 million. A difference of £200 million is huge and may reflect the hand of Tom Hicks whose reputation as a leveraged buyout specialist precludes him from walking out of a deal that does not give him the desired profit. But who will buy at this price?