THE OWNERS of the Boston Red Sox baseball team could finally take control of Liverpool Football Club as early as this afternoon, potentially bringing to an end a protracted and bitter ownership row with the club’s current owners.
The Dallas County district court, which had given Tom Hicks and George Gillett a last-gasp injunction on Wednesday evening to stop the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures that night, will today rule on whether it will lift that injunction, the last remaining obstacle to the sale.
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That verdict is to be delivered at 7am Texan time, or 1pm Irish time. If the injunction is withdrawn, as Liverpool senior figures expect it to be, the sale of the club should be concluded by the close of business.
The action comes after another dramatic day yesterday, in which the reminder of the club’s board returned to the High Court in London, which firmly ruled that the Texan injunction was essentially void, with that court having no jurisdiction in the matter.
Delivering that ruling, Justice Christopher Floyd ordered Hicks and Gillett to seek the withdrawal of the Dallas injunction by 4pm today, or they would be found in contempt of court.
Though the High Court had decided that the injunction sought in Texas was redundant from its own point of view, the takeover by NESV was still unable to proceed, or NESV – and its owner, John W Henry – would be considered in contempt of the Dallas court.
If the ownership saga is not resolved by the close of business today, Liverpool’s biggest creditors RBS will recall its £200m loan to the club – and a reported additional £37m – leading to a repossession of the club, a move that would see administration and a nine-point penalty.
It is unclear, however, whether the injunction in Texas also bars RBS from repossessing the club.
Liverpool takeover could (finally) be complete today
THE OWNERS of the Boston Red Sox baseball team could finally take control of Liverpool Football Club as early as this afternoon, potentially bringing to an end a protracted and bitter ownership row with the club’s current owners.
The Dallas County district court, which had given Tom Hicks and George Gillett a last-gasp injunction on Wednesday evening to stop the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures that night, will today rule on whether it will lift that injunction, the last remaining obstacle to the sale.
That verdict is to be delivered at 7am Texan time, or 1pm Irish time. If the injunction is withdrawn, as Liverpool senior figures expect it to be, the sale of the club should be concluded by the close of business.
The action comes after another dramatic day yesterday, in which the reminder of the club’s board returned to the High Court in London, which firmly ruled that the Texan injunction was essentially void, with that court having no jurisdiction in the matter.
Delivering that ruling, Justice Christopher Floyd ordered Hicks and Gillett to seek the withdrawal of the Dallas injunction by 4pm today, or they would be found in contempt of court.
Though the High Court had decided that the injunction sought in Texas was redundant from its own point of view, the takeover by NESV was still unable to proceed, or NESV – and its owner, John W Henry – would be considered in contempt of the Dallas court.
If the ownership saga is not resolved by the close of business today, Liverpool’s biggest creditors RBS will recall its £200m loan to the club – and a reported additional £37m – leading to a repossession of the club, a move that would see administration and a nine-point penalty.
It is unclear, however, whether the injunction in Texas also bars RBS from repossessing the club.
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George Gillett John W Henry Liverpool Takeover RBS Royal Bank of Scotland Liverpool Tom Hicks