Bidding war starts as Anfield boardroom fight it out in court
Published:As the Liverpool board room sit in the high court awaiting a decision on the future ownership of the football club, a bidding war has erupted after Singapore billionaire Peter Lim tabled a better offer than New England Sports Ventures.
The £320m offer from Peter Lim also comes with a extra £40m to be spent on new transfers, and the Liverpool board have been put in a precarious position as the future of the football club is thrown into further uncertainty.
Lim’s offer trumps the £300m offered by NESV, and Lim’s offer of £40m in cash to spend on transfers in the January window is sure to please the Liverpool fans.
But it is believed that Liverpool chairman, Martin Broughton, has provisionally agreed a deal with NESV and if that is so, it will be difficult for the Liverpool board to back track and accept Lim’s offer.
George Gillett and Tom Hicks are under pressure from Royal Bank of Scotland to repay the £237m debt they owe and the American pair, plus Broughton and the rest of the Liverpool board are in the high court as RBS seek a court-order to prevent the American’s removing two board members.
Gillett and Hicks believe the offers seriously undervalue Liverpool and the removal of the board members would allow the American’s to reject the offer.
Martin Broughton holds the deciding vote and today’s court appearance will decide whether he gets to keep that vote as the future of Liverpool football club is under serious threat.
Liverpool are currently third from bottom in the Premier League and are 12/1 to be relegated.
A cash injection would be a huge boost to their Premier League season and they are 5/1 to finish in the top four.
Liverpool play Everton on Sunday and are 2/1 to win. See the full Barclays Premier League football betting odds market here.
