Topic: Liverpool FC owners' £100m credit crunch

[anfield]

Liverpool FC owners' £100m credit crunch
Jun 23 2008 David Prentice

LIVERPOOL’S American owners are facing a major credit crunch backlash over stalled plans to build a new stadium for the Reds.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett may need to put in as much as £100m of their own money if they want to borrow a further £200m.

And that casts massive doubt over their ability to go ahead with the ambition of building the 70,000 seat-plus super stadium, designed by Dallas based architects HKS and rolled out amid a fanfare of publicity last year.

Given the global credit crunch, banks are no longer prepared to allow 100 per cent borrowings and are currently asking for at least one third of the amount needed for major projects to be put up front by would-be borrowers.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool for £220m in February last year - most of it with borrowed cash - and have since refinanced their original loans with a further £350m loan deal, which leaves the club responsible for annual interest payments of around £39m a year.

The Americans, who have become estranged and embittered over recent months, are now on speaking terms again following Gillett’s admission on Friday that they needed to set aside their communications differences for the sake of the club.

But the worldwide clampdown on lending means they would still face huge problems raising the deposit now needed for what is effectively a mortgage to build a new Anfield.

The Dubaian government, headed by Sheik Mohammed al Rashid bin Maktoum, remain keen to buy out the Americans. And, as a sovereign wealth fund, it is claimed that unlike the Americans would to some degree be protected from the interest rates and pressures exerted by banks over private investors.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/06/23/liverpool-fc-owners-100m-credit-crunch-100252-21135727/

[SP]

Not really new news. Definitely looks like a sports journo struggling with financial news.

Given the global credit crunch, banks are no longer prepared to allow 100 per cent borrowings and are currently asking for at least one third of the amount needed for major projects to be put up front by would-be borrowers.

The twist on the story is the nugget above plucked out the air without attribution.

No new news, it just as depressing - no more, no less, as it was yesterday.

[HarryLabrador]

Nothing surprising there. This is the reality check sensible people knew is only round the corner.

Neither is the second half of this statement surprising. Nice to know the first half is still on the agenda.

The Dubaian government, headed by Sheik Mohammed al Rashid bin Maktoum, remain keen to buy out the Americans. And, as a sovereign wealth fund, it is claimed that unlike the Americans would to some degree be protected from the interest rates and pressures exerted by banks over private investors.

[Aldridge 8]

bit of an old story reconstituted , because its a bit slow liverpool f.c. news wise , but pretty bad anyway .

[Butcher Knife Roberto]

this is the reason why I still believe the Yanks will be gone by the end of the summer. The supposed 'united front' that they are now parading to all and sundry is, in my opinion, merely part one of their exit strategy. Considering they have barely slid either of their grubby mitts into their pockets to date, and also considering their well-documented financial history, does anyone here honestly believe that they will put any of their own money in to this?

bye bye George and Tom, fuck off out of our club   

[Liverbird 2010]

Whats going to happen now There is noway they will cought up 50 million each, what about rafa's transfer budget?

This is not looking good is it.

And they are that fuckin stubborn bet they wont sell.

[HarryLabrador]

Whats going to happen now There is noway they will cought up 50 million each, what about rafa's transfer budget?

This is not looking good is it.

And they are that fuckin stubborn bet they wont sell.

The other worrying scenario, Lyndsey, is the likelihood of Twit & Twat not building the stadium at all, or just holding fire until the crunch on worldwide credit has greatly eased, and that could be sometime indeed.

[fletcheri]

Prentice must of had a bit of time on his hands before writting his next everton book it's just a cut and paste job

[Liverbird 2010]

The other worrying scenario, Lyndsey, is the likelyhood of Twit & Twat not building the stadium at all, or just holding fire until the crunch on worldwide credit has greatly eased, and that could be sometime indeed.

They cant though because the LCC want to know now if they have the money for the stadium otherwise its getting scrapped.

And to be honest I dont want them building us a stadium I dont want them leaving their nightmare legacy behind once they go i never want to hear about either of them again, I hate them.

[HarryLabrador]

They cant though because the LCC want to know now if they have the money for the stadium otherwise its getting scrapped.

And to be honest I dont want them building us a stadium I dont want them leaving their nightmare legacy behind once they go i never want to hear about either of them again, I hate them.

Hear, hear!

GET OUT OF OUR CLUB, TWIT & TWAT

[Liverbird 2010]

Doesnt it just piss you right off though that sheikh Mo is brustified and ecspecially now with the price of oil and we ended up with fuckin Randolph and Mortimer.

[deadlybuzz]

Posted in the main forum. Thought it was a well written article, just reminding everyone what a bunch of buffoons Twit and Twat are.

Liverpool's sitcom is no fun for Supporters

By Vincent Hogan

Monday June 23 2008

Tom Hicks and George Gillett are, it seems, back on speaking terms. This is not good news for Liverpool FC. It means the crusade to turn the club into an American sitcom is probably back on track again. Hicks and Gillett are the Lemmon and Matthau of Premier League owners.

They insist -- of course -- that they have Liverpool's best interests at heart, but that insistence loses something fundamental in delivery. It feels like it should come with the accessory of canned laughter.

You see, one specialises in junk bonds, the other in leveraged buy-outs. So you can understand the queasiness of supporters when Hicks invites Sky Sports over to his home in Texas and meets them in a Liverpool fleece. It's like seeing Michael O'Leary flouncing about in a mantilla.

Hicks and Gillett reek of opportunism. They've owned the club for 16 months now and, apart from the clumsy humiliation of Rafa Benitez with that courting of Jurgen Klinsmann and their own childish, spiteful feud, it's a little hard to decipher anything they've actually achieved in that time.

They borrowed so heavily to buy Liverpool, a suspicion lurks that business at Anfield is now conducted as if every new day dawns as October 24, 1929.

Plans for the new stadium have already been down-sized and, by all appearances, suspended. Liverpool's only concrete moves in the transfer market have been for two full-backs, a Swiss who sat on the bench for the duration of his country's mediocre involvement in Euro 2008 and an Italian who didn't even make the Azzurri's squad.

Hicks has declared the commercial shortcomings of Chief Executive, Rick Parry, "a disaster".

And go figure this. Under Benitez, Liverpool have harvested millions from the Champions' League, yet he now finds himself reduced to counting coins, like the hard-pressed manager of a curio stall.

It's not just Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal who go shopping on better streets. It's Newcastle and Tottenham, Everton and Manchester City.

John Arne Riise's sale to Roma will probably facilitate the eventual purchase of Andrea Dossena from Udinese. And if Xabi Alonso goes to Juventus, Benitez might just bow to Aston Villa's exorbitant pricing of Gareth Barry.

After that? The chat boards reflect the turmoil.

At worst, Liverpool are thought desperate to trim their wage-bill (Finnan, Pennant, Benayoun, Voronin, Itandje, Leto etc.) At best, they have deals already agreed for the arrival of David Villa, David Silva and David Bentley (presumably in anticipation of a pending European ruling that at least a third of every professional team must answer to the same Christian name).

The disparity speaks of a bewildered following. Liverpool supporters have no way of knowing just what market they are in right now. So they look to Rafa's body language, desperate to identify the subtleties that distinguish a sanguine general from a resigned one.

Rebuffed

There are some consolations, mind.

Chelsea have, reputedly, been flashing green-backs in the direction of Kaka, Fernando Torres and Frank Ribery only to, remarkably, find themselves rebuffed by all three. And Cristiano Ronaldo seems intent on swapping Manchester for Madrid.

But, then, you think of Alex Ferguson getting his hands on another £70m and it's like hearing that the guy from pest control has sorted out your wasp problem, but can do nothing about the bats.

The worst thing about Gillett and Hicks is that they have managed to feed the depiction of Dubai International Capital as some kind of noble humanitarian agency set upon a course of human kindness. They have turned Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum into a modern-day Gandhi.

The idea of DIC buying Liverpool is, essentially, attractive because that of the Americans retaining ownership remains so repugnant.

Gillett was, reputedly, willing to sell his 50pc share for a £75m profit this year, but Hicks blocked the deal. Why? He claims to have wonderful plans for the club. But, then, he claimed the cement mixers would be spinning in Stanley Park by now too.

The cynical view is that the Americans, albeit separately, are playing a game of bluff here. That, ultimately, their interest in Liverpool FC has never extended beyond the business of profit.

Certainly, you look at Hicks, at his Liverpool fleece, his Liverpool mug, his eldest son holding up a scarf and pretending to sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' (the night Chelsea visited Anfield in the Champions' League) and it looks about as natural as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen espousing a devotion to Kilkenny hurling.

The word this week is that "communication" between the Hicks and Gillett families has "improved significantly". This -- we are told -- has yet to extend to an actual conversation between Tom and George themselves.

Meanwhile, pre-season begins to loom and the admirable Benitez must set about formulating plans in an environment that makes the political landscape in Zimbabwe look stable. For now, his expression remains implacable.

The prayer must be that he knows something the supporters don't. That deals have been done and commitments made that speak of genuine ambition.

Otherwise, the sitcom prepares to subsume the football club. And great men spin violently in their graves.

- Vincent Hogan

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/liverpools-sitcom-is-no-fun-for-supporters-1418765.html

[AMP]

The stadium cost of £300m was based on December 2007 figures. As we know lending rates are getting  higher and higher each week and  banks want more up front.

As we all know the cost of living has gone up analysts state it's already gone up 9.5% so far this year and will only get worse due to the cost of Gas and Electric rumoured to go up between 30% and 40% by the end of the year and rising food costs.  So you can bet the stadium costs  like that of those for the 2012 Olympics have gone much higher in the last 6 months. Based on the cost of some of the  Olympics venues the new stadium could have already gone up £25m to £30m.

There is also the steel problems TH is having due to  increase costs and  of cheap imports at present coming into the US and it could get worse.


At present TH & GG have although borrowed £60m to start the foundations, but you can bet they banks will want to re cost the project  to take into account the change in the financial market.

This will also cause problems for any refinancing either of LFC and any of their other projects and banks probably wont even lend them the money as they may believe their over all risk is too high.

[thekop0071]

These Fcuking idiots have turned Anfield and Liverpool Fc into a bastrd episode of DALLAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing but bolloxs everyday and we all know what they aint got a pot to piss in and 4POOL is off again - Jes you must be getting some great kick backs !

Look at the facts man !! They are not what we wanted but they are what Parry brought in ! and Jes are we paying the price

YNWA

JFT96

YANKS OUT !!!!!        

[Life]

There's nothing new here at all - including most of the responses.

I'm locking it for your own sanity.