Heres the full story from the Financial Times - What the feck am I been driven too! Im reading the financial times! I think Id rather this guy, at least we would know who our owner was.
Liverpool FC auction draws global interest
Global interest in the auction of Liverpool Football Club intensified on Monday with prospective bidders emerging from Hong Kong and the Middle East.
Chinese sports entrepreneur Kenneth Huang has made an approach to Liverpool’s bankers Royal Bank of Scotland and US-based Wachovia seeking support for a deal, according to people close to the situation.
Mr Huang, chairman of Hong Kong-based QSL Sports, also has approached Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman, over a deal.
Separately, the Kuwait-based al-Kharafi family is also looking at deal and have also been in contact with Mr Broughton and Barclays Capital, the investment bank advising the club’s owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett on a sale, one person familiar with the matter said.
However, the club declined to comment on potential bidders.
Mr Huang is interested in buying the club direct or gaining control by buying the £234m of debt that Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett, both American businessmen, owe to RBS and Wachovia, one of the people close to the situation said.
Such an offer would be considerably below the £800m valuation Mr Hicks placed on the club at a press conference earlier this year.
However, spokesperson from RBS said that the bank was not in contact with any bidder regarding Liverpool.
RBS, which owns most of the £234m debt, has extended the owners’ credit facility until October. However, Mr Huang is keen to have a sale finalised before the August 31 player transfer deadline, a person familiar with the matter said.
Originally from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, Mr Huang owns a 15 per cent stake in Cleveland Cavaliers, the US basketball team, and has a stake in Northeast Tigers, its Chinese counterpart.
The al-Kharafi family, headed by the industrialist Nasser al-Kharafi, is more familiar with the Liverpool saga. A former student in Liverpool, Mr Kharafi previously tried and failed to buy the club in 2008 and again last year. He owns Al-Kharafi & Sons, a diversified conglomerate.
Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks, who have repeatedly rowed over the management of Liverpool, have signed a legal document giving Mr Broughton a casting vote on all board issues, including the planned sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
In its latest full year results released in May, the club’s pre-tax losses had ballooned from £40.9m to £54.9m. Its total net debt was £351m.
Additional reporting by Robin Wigglesworth in Abu Dhabi
