The board of Liverpool Football Club has agreed the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV), a statement on the official website confirmed today.
New England Sports Ventures currently owns a portfolio of companies including the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Rousch Fenway Racing.
LFC Chairman Martin Broughton said: "I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive.
"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.
"We've met them in Boston, London and Liverpool over several weeks and I am immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club.
"By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team. I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale."
The statement also said the sale is conditional on Premier League approval, as well as resolution of the boardroom dispute and other matters.


Read More http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...-ventures-100252-27411806/#ixzz11ZBkDodh

Its not over yet....Hicks and Gillete are opposed and mounting a legal challenge to remove teh board. Get a life guys and give us a break!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9064599.stm

LFC Vs HICKS TOMORROW 12/10/10



THE showdown to decide the future of Liverpool FC begins tomorrow.

Royal Bank of Scotland is seeking to prove that American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett did not act legally when they attempted to reconfigure the Anfield board last week.

The case will be heard in the High Court’s Chancery division tomorrow Court Room 18. Kick-off 10.30. Ref - Mr Justice Floyd

Just boot them out of the league is what I say

a bit more info of sky sports news.


Liverpool have agreed a sale to New England Sports Ventures, but the deal is being opposed by current co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.



Fear

Hicks and Gillett dispute whether Reds chairman Martin Broughton had the power to accept the offer from NESV against their wishes.

The row centres on whether Liverpool's board - chaired by City veteran Broughton - had the power to accept an offer from NESV.

However, Broughton insists he had the right to sell the club to NESV as Hicks and Gillett had signed agreements not to oppose the sale when they received an extension to their refinancing deal with Royal Bank of Scotland earlier this year.

The Premier League is understood to be ready to approve the sale and, if the NESV deal goes through, Hicks and Gillett stand to lose a total of £144million.

It is feared, however, if Hicks and Gillett win the High Court battle, that Liverpool could be placed into administration and docked nine points if RBS decide to call in the £237m acquisition debt owed, due for payment in full on Friday 15th October.

SKY SPORTS NEWS

A bit more info...........


The Royal Bank of Scotland have won an interim injunction preventing Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett from firing chairman Martin Broughton and two other board members.

As the ownership row at Anfield prepares to go to the High Court on Tuesday RBS have revealed they have won an injunction that prevents the American owners from sacking independent chairman Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.

Hicks tried to remove Purslow and Ayre from Liverpool's board last week after the duo along with Broughton agreed the club's club to New England Sports Ventures

The deal is being opposed by Hicks and Gillett who have brought the case to the High Court to try and prevent the sale to NESV.

RBS, which holds the bulk of Liverpool's debt is claiming "breach of contract" and says it obtained an interim injunction ahead of a further hearing on Tuesday at London's High Court.

RBS said in a statement: "RBS in its capacity as lender to the Kop group of companies received the benefit of various contractual undertakings from Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett in relation to the corporate governance arrangements that Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett agreed would apply to the Kop group of companies with effect from April 2010.

"Those undertakings provided for the appointment of Mr Broughton as chairman of the board and the appointment of the chief executive and commercial director of LFC to the Kop boards.


Prevented

"As is well known Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett purported to make changes to those corporate governance arrangements on 4 October. This was in breach of those contractual undertakings.

"In light of that purported breach of contract RBS sought and obtained on Friday 8 October 2010 an interim injunction against Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett until a further hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

"Among other things, that interim injunction prevents Mr Hicks or Mr Gillett taking any steps to remove or replace Mr Broughton from his position as chairman of the board of the Kop companies or from taking any other steps to appoint or remove any directors from the board of the Kop companies."

Broughton insists he had the right to sell the club to NESV as Hicks and Gillett had signed agreements not to oppose the sale when they received an extension to their refinancing deal with Royal Bank of Scotland earlier this year.

The Premier League is understood to be ready to approve the sale and, if the NESV deal goes through, Hicks and Gillett stand to lose a total of £144million.

It is feared, however, if Hicks and Gillett win the High Court battle, that Liverpool could be placed into administration and docked nine points if RBS decide to call in the £237m acquisition debt owed, due for payment in full on Friday 15th October.


SKY SPORTS NEWS

Throw this one into the wash..

Liverpool to receive new bid from Singapore billionaire

The bidding contest for Liverpool FC may not be over, the BBC can reveal.

The runner-up in the contest, Peter Lim, a Singapore billionaire, is to approach Liverpool's board with a view to making a higher offer for the club.

According to sources close to Mr Lim, he was the club's preferred bidder in the closing stages of the auction.

He had talks with Liverpool's chairman about how to announce his takeover, such was the apparent confidence that he would win the contest.

'No loans'

Mr Lim learned he was not the victor only a few hours before the club's chairman, Martin Broughton, announced on 6 October that Liverpool would be sold to John Henry's New England Sport Ventures for £300m.

Mr Lim, who is being advised by the British firm of lawyers Macfarlanes and by the Wong Partnership of Singapore, still does not know why Mr Broughton went with New England Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox.

He believes that in purely monetary terms, his offer was at least as attractive as Mr Henry's.

Mr Lim, too, was offering to repay all of Royal Bank of Scotland's and Wachovia's £200m of long-term debt, to take on £60m of other debt and to inject £40m of working capital.

What's more - and Mr Lim regards this as crucial - all the money being provided by him would come from his own cash resources. He is not planning to borrow any of it.

I understand he is also offering to provide tens of millions of pounds to Liverpool's manager, Roy Hodgson, to allow him to buy players when the transfer window opens in January.

According to executives close to Mr Lim, he was told by Mr Broughton that his ability to fund the takeover for cash, and the size of his cash resources, meant he was a more attractive owner than New England Sports Ventures.

Mr Lim was told that Liverpool's board was concerned that New England Sports Ventures would have to borrow to finance the takeover - raising questions about whether Liverpool really would break free from the financial shackles perceived to have been imposed by the current owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

In the event, New England Sports Ventures have insisted it will not load up Liverpool FC with debt.

But there are no guarantees that there will not be significant debt further up the corporate ownership structure of New England Sports Ventures - which could limit how much money Mr Henry and his colleagues can inject into Liverpool in the future.

Mr Lim is keeping a close eye on the court case, which starts on Tuesday.

The case is supposed to rule on whether Mr Broughton can sell Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures against the wishes of Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett.

The Singapore billionaire believes the judgement in that case may give him an opportunity to bid again, whatever Mr Broughton may wish.

Business empire

Mr Lim is also prepared to buy Liverpool, should it ultimately collapse into administration under UK insolvency procedures.

According to sources close to him, he feels that he may have been shut out because New England made an offer to Royal Bank of Scotland to pay some of the £40m penalty fees the banks have demanded.

If that is the case, he believes Royal Bank may have done a poor deal, because he would be prepared to pay RBS and Wachovia more than the £10m or so which New England Sports Ventures is said to have put on the table.

"He never had a chance to negotiate directly with Royal Bank [of Scotland]," said a source. "He was expecting to do so, after agreeing the takeover with the board."

Mr Lim has an estimated net worth of $1.6bn (£1bn), according to Forbes Magazine.

He made his fortune in fashion, logistics and agri-business.

His interest in English football stems from his ownership of several Manchester United themed bars in Asia - which have persuaded him that there is huge global potential for making money from top-flight English football.

Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Monday afternoon that it had obtained an injuction to prevent Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett from sacking Martin Broughton or any other of the club's board members ahead of Tuesday's court case.

Source

I hope RBS take over, and Hicks loses all his money invested in the club. I don't really care about the possible points deduction (which may or may not happen given the legalities and the fact the club is still fully-solvent) so long as Hicks (and Gillett, though to be honest I don't has as much of an issue with hime) is ousted for once and for all. Im praying this sorry, pathetic situation is resolved by November, so we can at least have a chance of sorting the team out and get back to some sort of normality for 2011. Hopefully, it wont be too late, so we can at least stand some chance of European football next season.

Im fed up of hearing about it on the news now

Are well lots more to come too.

I've been following the arguements live from court here:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...nry?showallcomments=true#end-of-comments

Its not as clear cut as the board were saying. Making for interesting reading. I have a feeling the red socks sale may be nullified by the actions of the board who didn't keep the shareholders fully informed.

I also didn't realise that Gillett lost his stake in the club two years ago when he failed to pay a loan to Mill. So the case is RBS vs Hicks and Ors not Gillett.

BREAKING NEWS: High Court rule in favour of RBS, against Hicks and Gillett.

Yerrrrrrrrr.

Damn Too Slow!

Judge rules against H&G, which means NESV deal can proceed.

JUDGE RULES MANDATORY INJUNCTION WANTED BY RBS AGAINST OWNERS IS GRANTED: SALE CAN GO AHEAD

It's not yet known whether Hicks and Gillett intend to appeal.

Judge Justice Floyd: 'Owners do not have a right to veto the sale'

Judge Justice Floyd dismisses attempt by owners to have interim injunction put on the Liverpool board.

NESV request declaratory judgement to prevent Hicks and Gillett from getting involved in sale, with potential trial set for Thurs 23 Oct.

Broughton wants a board meeting by 8pm today to sort out the sale and there is a dispute over whether the owners will be able to communicate via phone. The owners' QC is asking for the meeting to take place at ten o'clock tomorrow. Judge rules that it should be at 8 today.

BBC Sport Report

Guardian live feed:

Mr Justice Floyd has declined to grant an appeal. The judge said it would be inappropriate in the circumstances for him to grant leave. He said that if Hicks and Gillett are determined to appeal, they would have to apply to the appeal court for permission.


Talk about trying to nail that coffin shut! Judge is making any further procedings very difficult.

So it looks like today the Board and Lawyers have earned more points for the club this season than the team on the pitch.

is it still possible they can lose 9 points.

no....

Has Maggie Thatcher died?? Only ask because I turned the tv on and the news was showing miners and scousers celebrating

Ffs. Hicks and Gillete have gone and got an injunction from a Texas court....brakes are back on!

They've also claimed damaged of 1billion pounds. The us judge has closed his facebook page and the court has taken it's phone off the hook.

Id go for chinese bloke. 40million to spend nxt transfer time.

Being an Evertonian i should be jumping for joy at whats going on at Liverpool, but I'm not, i like to look at the bigger picture, whats all this doing for the game and what effects it will have on the area, peoples jobs etc. Not being a financial or legal expert of any description, it seems to me all this malarkey is purely down to saving Liverpool 9 points. If the bank have a deadline day for retrieving their money and in effect becoming the new owners of Liverpool, why not wait until that day and then sell it on, i know it can't be as simple as that and yet they do it with properties all the time, repossess and retrieve their money by selling the property. We as supporters can be fickle at times, Liverpool and their current owners are victims of whats happened globally recently and in my eyes are taking the brunt for whats happening on the field, if things had been going well and the team were winning titles and cups H&G would have been the greatest thing since sliced bread. The problem has been on the field and having a crap manager who wasted millions after millions on bad players, money provided to him by the owners. I have no sympathy for the current owners, thats the chance anyone takes when they make investments, hard luck if it goes belly up, i do think they are getting stitched up and i dare say it will all come out eventually, is all this just to save 9 points, a team like Liverpool even with their current players should be able to make that up.

hahahahahahahaha all this is to save us 9 points lmao!! ye right.

Why doesn't the bank wait to deadline day, take the club and sell it. Does anyone believe any potential buyers would pull out if they lost 9 points, if its that good a proposition they wouldn't.

nesv did say sometime ago that they would still buy even if we lost ponits as they know we would still stayed up..

So all this fanning about must be over 9 points, the bank still get their money, Liverpool get rid of H&G, and the new owners still get the club. Probably not that simple but you can see what I'm getting at.

all the fanny about as you put it is down to greedy Grrrs g&h willing to sell to any tom, dick, or harry. wanting as much money as they can get. not haveing the intrest of the club. like they have been with all there others..

They wouldnt lose points anyway, regardless of whether KOP Holdings goes bankrupt or not, according to the FA (who are the only people in the position to deduct points), because the club will remain fully solvent and able to pay it's players wages and other running costs without issue.

The holding company is the one facing administration, not Liverpool FC itself. So the Evertonians can settle down now and put a hold on their celebation's.

I don't really see what Hicks and Gillett hope to gain from he injunction - they don't have the money to pay the debt, RBS are clearly not going to extend the loan or allow them time to refinance (which they clearly cannot otherwise they would have done so by now), and nobody is stupid enough to pay their redicululous valuation of £600 - £800 million.

So they are going to lose the club either way, they would be better to sell to NESV now, and walk away with an ounce of self-respect, than wait a couple more days and lose the club to RBS by defaulting.

They want NESV to walk away from the deal, but NESV are prepared to wait, because they known the potential of the club. They probably only have to wait a matter of days.

I do feel sorry for H&G in some ways, because they did invest a considerable amout of money into the club and its players... but they are businessmen, both of whom have failed miserably in the past with sporting ventures such as this in a similar way (Corinthians anyone?) and have obviously not learnt their lesson. They made an investment with the hope of making wods of cash and building up an asset base that would be very lucrative, call it bad timing or simply bad direction, but they lost the gamble, the investment has gone sour, and one cannot really feel sorry for the situation they have found themselves in.

They should have had the common sense to sell up when DIC were trying to purchase the club last year, instead of continuing to fight a losing battle and ending up in this position.

You can't blame anyone for trying to get their investment back or make a profit, we all do that, and if its right what Matt says about the points, its even more unnecessary messing about by the bank. As an Everton supporter no I'm not filled with joy, carrying on like this is going to ruin the clubs in this country and thats no good for anyone.

hicks never put any of his own money into lfc it was loans in are name. gillette put his own money in..

NESV have
confirmed this morning they are prepared to wait as long as it takes to
become the next owner of the Premier League football club, after the
board agreed the sale in a meeting in London last night.

from lfc

It doesn't matter how H&G financed the original deal, its still a debt they owe and want to get the best possible return on. That's business and they can't be blamed for that, if we accept the points are safe and this is what i can't get my head around, why the urgency to sell before a certain date, if RBS can take it, the new buyers are not going anywhere, why the rush.

Liverpool to return High Court this afternoon to try to overturn Tom Hicks and George Gillett Texas state ruling on sale (Sky Sports)

Mill Financial have bought Hicks and Gillett's shares in the club. Reds back in High Court at 2pm today. It's all kicking off. (sky sports)

Not with a ball unfortunately.

If Mill repays the £200m long-term debt owed by Liverpool FC (plus penalty fees) to RBS and Wachovia, then Mill is in the driving seat.
Once the debt is repaid, RBS's power ends.
At that point, the deal with New England Sports Ventures collapses.
Liverpool would have a new owner, Mill. And Mill will do with Liverpool what it pleases."

And thats what all this rushing about has been for, trying to stop them getting their hands on Liverpool, they are pissing in the same pot as H&G.

Where has this news come from - nothing on the BBC as yet?

Besides which, any new takeover proposal, would have to be approved by the Premier League, which given the recent crap surrounding the club, I can hardly see them being inclined to hand out approval willy nilly to any PE group or similar, whose long-term goal would be to fleece the club of its assets and then sell the club in a short period, making them a good return and leaving the club in dire straights.

I still think NESV will win the battle... but the road may have many more twists and turns yet!

sky


speculation that Chinese businessman Kenny Huang could be behind today's dramatic development

With the premier leagues recent track record, don't hold your breath. Its those idiots who are partly responsible for the mess football clubs are in today.

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2010/10/mill-financial-buy-hicks-gilletts-shares-in-lfc/

The only announcement I can see on the LFC website is...


http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/liverpool-fc-statement-5

Wasnt it Sky who said Kenny Huang had pretty much tied up a deal to buy Liverpool a few weeks back? They do have a tendency jump on the bandwagon sometimes on the basis of fiction rather than fact (like most News Corp companies lol, dare I say it, The Sun).

If you rang up their head office and said you had recieved information claiming that DIC have bought the club outright and paid off the debts, they would probably air it lol.

Just been on sky sayin rumours sweeping the internet that Mill Financial have bought Liverpool FC. ITSTARTED ON TWITTER lmao!!

dont know whats true now as all the papers are on to it now??

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk...ds-lfc-ownership-latest-100252-27471097/

Just remembering backto when DIC tried to purchase the club for £500 million, and Gillett had agreed to sell his half of the club, only for Hicks to block the deal.

Hicks has screwed this club over, and I am so hoping and praying that he walks away with a big loss! If Gillett has lost millions, as is being suggested, I hope he is able to excercise some odd US law and sue Hicks for the losses he incurred!

Im sure there will be something he can sue him for, after all America is the land of the lawsuit, where fat fookers can sue Macdonalds etc...

Tom Hicks Remains in control of his share of the club & has NOT SOLD to Mill Financial...........

Tom Hicks quashes Mill Financial 'takeover deal' rumours





LIVERPOOL co-owner Tom Hicks has not sold his shares to Mill Financial, the American's spokesman confirmed to the ECHO this morning.

Despite reports to the contrary, the Texan remains in control of his 50% stake in the club as the future of the Reds remained mired in confusion.

It was suggested Mill Financial, an arm of US hedge fund Springfield Financial Company, based in Virginia, had done a deal with Mr Hicks to buy his shares at Anfield.

But in the last 15 minutes, a spokesman informed the ECHO there was no truth to those reports. He would not expand further on Mr Hicks' or Mill Financial's position.


The Virginia company already have an interest in Liverpool after co-owner George Gillett defaulted on his £75m loan with the same company two months ago.

It comes as the continuing saga of the ownership of the Reds was heard before the High Court this morning.

The English-based Anfield directors, along with the Royal Bank of Scotland and prospective buyers of the club New England Sports Ventures, were hit by a massive $1.6b law suit by Tom Hicks and George Gillett late last night.

The sale, agreed with the Boston consortium last night, was put on hold pending legal clarification of the temporary restraining roder.

This morning, the Judiciary confirmed to the ECHO the club's challenge against that court order, made in Texas, was heard briefly at the Royal Courts of Justice.

A further hearing will take place from 2pm today when Mr Justice Floyd will hear the application to overturn the lawsuit in full.


THE ECHO

Peter Lim has pulled out of the race for LFC Lim says he was ignored by the board. Probably because a deal with NESV had already been made

SKY SPORTS NEWS


H&G in Court again in Dallas at the Moment Not Sure What They've Got Planned but Im Sure We Will Soon Find out

Liverpool FC to be sold today barring Texas courtroom ruling



A TEXAS judge is crucial to the £300m sale of Liverpool FC to New England Sports Ventures today. Ian Hernon and Luke Traynor report on extraordinary court battles in Dallas and London

LIVERPOOL Football Club will be sold to New England Sports Ventures today – barring any last ditch hitches in a Texas courtroom.

Lawyers for the Reds, main creditor Royal Bank of Scotland and Boston’s NESV were gathering at 7am (1pm UK) at the 160th District Court in Dallas to seek the removal of a restraining order obtained by the current owners on Wednesday night.

If Judge Jim Jordan is persuaded to overturn the order he granted Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the agreed sale of the Reds to NESV should proceed.

After a second damning verdict in London’s High Court yesterday, lawyers for co-owner Tom Hicks immediately went back to the Dallas court last night for another hearing with Judge Jordan but it adjourned without resolution until today.

The early start in Texas today is because of the 4pm deadline (UK time) High Court judge Christopher Floyd gave the Americans to remove their restraining order in his decision against Hicks and Gillett in London yesterday.

Liverpool remain hopeful the £300m sale to NESV, whose head is Boston Red Sox baseball franchise owner John W Henry, will go through, with both chairman Martin Broughton and managing director Christian Purslow speaking positively.

John Henry also tweeted this morning.


And managing director Christian Purslow told the ECHO: “We were delighted again with the result in the UK High Court this afternoon.

“We are hopeful of a successful outcome in the Dallas court when the judge returns tomorrow morning.”

A possible late offer from Mill Financial – who already own George Gillett’s half of the club – failed to materialise yesterday and, while it has not been completely ruled out, only a hugely-improved bid is likely to deflect the Reds board from their deal with NESV.

That deal moved substantially closer after victory was secured in the UK after Judge Floyd comprehensively ruled that the efforts by Liverpool’s American owners to block the sale of the club in Texas were wrong.

Judge Floyd granted the RBS, LFC and English board members Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre “anti-suit relief” to overturn the lawsuit obtained in Dallas.

That paves the way for the club to be sold to NESV for £300m. Indeed David Chivers, representing NESV at the High Court, told the judge his clients “are the owners of Liverpool now”.

With memorable phrasing, he described Hicks and Gillett as “the owners from beyond the grave who are seeking to exercise with their dead hand a continuing grip on this company.

“That is simply not acceptable.”


Read More THE ECHO

Hicks lifts restraining order, but to sell to Mill Financial






It is 4:30am in Texas and the story took a new twist this morning with Tom Hicks lifting the restraining order.

Many Liverpool fans are very nervous about this latest move and fear that Hicks might be doing this because he has sold his shares to Mill Financial as it was rumoured yesterday.

The BBC in fact have also reported that Mill Financial would then be in a position to pay back the £237m loan to RBS today and retain control of the club.

This follows an earlier Tweet by John W Henry this morning vowing to fight the latest move by Hicks, Gillet & Mill Financial.

But have Mill Financial passed the fit and proper test by the EPL?


THE EMPIRE OF THE KOP

We are in for an afternoon of even more legal arguments. Sky Sports News' Bryan Swanson reports that Tom Hicks could do a deal with Mill Financial to pay off the debt to Royal Bank of Scotland to remain in control of Liverpool. That would result in further legal challenges from John W Henry's team as they bid to gain control of the club.(Sky sports news)

Sky Sources are telling us that the Premier League have rejected an approach from Mill Finance to undertake their owners and directors test. NESV have already taken and passed this.

yerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Looks like Hicks and Gillett are gone. NESV about to be named as new LFC owners get in there. Hicks admits defeat moments ago but now will sue for up to $1.6 BILLION!. LFC press team ready to announce NESV sale..

New England Sports Ventures are the New Owners of Liverpool Football Club...

He had t give up today, as otherwise he would have lost the club to RBS tomorrow. He was just trying to cause problems and gain media attention to try and interest other parties - but the deal with NES was signed and sealed by the board, acting on his behalf, so there was little he could do, even if some Arab had come in offering £500m for the club... Hicks will lose less money in selling to NESV than he would had the club gone into administration and under RBS control. I hope Gillett can sue Hicks for his losses, given Hicks wreckless decision to block the £500 million sale to DIC in 200 has caused million of pounds of losses for Gillett.

Hopefully now, we can start getting back to dealng with footballing matters, and it gives a couple of months rebuild squad morale for 2011!

Finally, it should be all over, and Hicks should be gone!

I shall wait till its gone through before I do my banana dance though lol.

BBC Sport Report

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=bos&content_id=12766377&tcid=fb_video_12766377

A good video that Henry posted on his Twitter yesterday for LFC fans to help us understand who NESV are and what they have achieved.

Liverpool have confirmed New England Sports Ventures have completed their takeover of the club

After a week of drama off the pitch John Henry's NESV have finally completed their takeover of the club after Tom Hicks and George Gillett accepted defeat in their bid to prevent a sale.

American duo Hicks and Gillett lifted the final obstacle standing in NESV's way by removing the restraining order they won in a Texas court to block the proposed sale.

However, Hicks and Gillett have announced they plan to sue for "at least $1.6billion" for "an extraordinary swindle".

Hicks, who believes the NESV sale undervalues Liverpool, had been trying to sell his stake to Mill Financial, a USA-based hedge fund, so they could pay the club's debt to the Royal Bank of Scotland and scupper the takeover.

Mill Financial had approached the Premier League to take the mandatory owner's test on Thursday, but were rejected when the league told the fund they could only take instruction from the Liverpool board, led by chairman Martin Broughton, who have already agreed to sell to NESV for £300 million.

NESV's takeover means the Royal Bank of Scotland will be paid the £237million they are owed and the threat of administration is avoided.

Liverpool's board agreed to sell the club to NESV for £300million last week, but the deal was upheld as Hicks and Gillett opposed the deal.

The news ends Hick's and Gillett's turbulent ownership of the club after they gained control at Anfield in 2007


SKY SPORTS NEWS

Boston boys have bought it!

Although I am a bluenose I guess I'm kinda happy that it's been sorted out. What I am struggling to understand though is this...even though I own my house & do not wish to sell it, can someone who takes a fancy it force me through the courts to sell it to them for less than market value?

Please advise.

H&G handed the responsibility to oversee the sale of the club to the board of directors (Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre) in a legally binding contract, and thus relinquished their right to either take part or interfere with the sale. The board was setup by Barclays Capital to work in the best interests of the owners to obtain the best deal possible. There was almost certainly some clause in the contract whereby Hicks and Gillett could excercise a right to sack the board and regain full control of the club and sale, but not retospectively. The deal had been done/signed minutes before Hicks attempted to sack the board, and this was why it too was legally binding.

As I understand it, Hicks will be looking to sue these and not Liverpool FC for not obtaining the best deal on the table, though I doubt the lawsuit will get anywhere in all honesty.

This is why when Hicks trid to scupper the deal and sack the board retrospectively and render the takeover deal/contract null and void, the British High Court ruled that this move would be illegal, and warned Hicks not to appeal.

He got his injunction in Texas, but it had no jurisdiction in the UK and thus could not really be enforced. However the British High Court ruled he was required to remove it by 16:00 today, otherwise the deal would go through regardless (also, there may have been legal wranglings in the US which may have delayed the deal, especially with NESV being a US company). I think the primary intention for this decison by the high-court however, was in the interest of fairness, to give him time to consult his legal team with regards any options he had left.

He removed the injunction (which really was his signal of intent to give up with his legal dispute against the takeover by NESV) and thus the deal with NESV, which was already signed before Hicks kicked off, went through. He had little in the way of choice, because he should stand to make a smaller loss by selling it to NESV rather than watching it fall into administration and under the ownership of RBS tomorrow.

Im not a legal expert, but thats the way I understand it atm. Im sure there is more to it, but I think thats a basic outline.
I do feel the board have actively set out to seek the best deal for the club as opposed to the owners, which is why Hicks has his knickers in a twist... had he have had his own way, he would have sold us down the river, so long as he made profit from it. In this respect, I can understand his annoyance, but thats for him to deal with with or without the aid of courts etc...

Very informative reply Matt.

Now that its done and dusted and only time will tell how successful its going to be. Its about time this ridiculous rule of deducting points from teams who are in financial trouble was done away with. Whats the point, invariably it sends an already struggling team into a lower division where they can earn less revenue, possibly drive away supporters and sponsors.

video: NESV meet players

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/free-video-nesv-meet-players