Tweet
Kuwaitis line up £500m bid for Liverpool
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, Liverpool's American owners, have been looking for a buyer for much of the past 12 months
Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;}One of Kuwait’s richest families is in negotiation to buy Liverpool. It emerged last night that the Al-Kharafi family, whose wealth is estimated at £8 billion, is involved in talks to buy the Merseyside club for a sum that is likely to be in excess of £500 million as the club’s American owners prepare to sell up.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, Liverpool’s American owners, have been looking for a buyer for much of the past 12 months, having conceded that they do not have the resources to fulfil any of their ambitions for the club in a difficult financial climate. They established contact with the Al-Kharafi family in October and, although the buyers pulled out of a proposed purchase without explanation on that occasion, after going through the process of due diligence, a deal appears increasingly likely this time.
It is not yet clear whether face-to-face talks have taken place between the Al-Kharafi family and the club’s owners or whether an initial deal would be for the entire shareholding or, in the first instance, for Gillett’s 50 per cent stake with a view to buying out Hicks a little farther down the line. Their interest is serious enough, however, for Hicks’s representatives to have attended a series of meetings and for two Liverpool officials — Ian Ayre, the commercial director, and Philip Nash, the finance director — to have been involved in high-level discussions.
The Al-Kharafi family made their money through construction, engineering and telecommunications. It is led by Nasser, the patriarch, and his brother, Jassim, a politician. If successful, it is likely that Liverpool would be seen as a family enterprise.
Related Links
Chelsea are also attracting speculative interest from the Middle East, even though Roman Abramovich has vehemently dismissed reports that he was looking to sell the club. Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, has been eager to emphasise Abramovich’s long-term commitment to the club, but that has not stopped Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who led the Abu Dhabi United Group’s purchase of Manchester City in September, drawing up a takeover proposal with Falcon Equity, a Swiss-based private-equity partnership.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, Liverpool's American owners, have been looking for a buyer for much of the past 12 months
Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;}One of Kuwait’s richest families is in negotiation to buy Liverpool. It emerged last night that the Al-Kharafi family, whose wealth is estimated at £8 billion, is involved in talks to buy the Merseyside club for a sum that is likely to be in excess of £500 million as the club’s American owners prepare to sell up.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, Liverpool’s American owners, have been looking for a buyer for much of the past 12 months, having conceded that they do not have the resources to fulfil any of their ambitions for the club in a difficult financial climate. They established contact with the Al-Kharafi family in October and, although the buyers pulled out of a proposed purchase without explanation on that occasion, after going through the process of due diligence, a deal appears increasingly likely this time.
It is not yet clear whether face-to-face talks have taken place between the Al-Kharafi family and the club’s owners or whether an initial deal would be for the entire shareholding or, in the first instance, for Gillett’s 50 per cent stake with a view to buying out Hicks a little farther down the line. Their interest is serious enough, however, for Hicks’s representatives to have attended a series of meetings and for two Liverpool officials — Ian Ayre, the commercial director, and Philip Nash, the finance director — to have been involved in high-level discussions.
The Al-Kharafi family made their money through construction, engineering and telecommunications. It is led by Nasser, the patriarch, and his brother, Jassim, a politician. If successful, it is likely that Liverpool would be seen as a family enterprise.
Related Links
Chelsea are also attracting speculative interest from the Middle East, even though Roman Abramovich has vehemently dismissed reports that he was looking to sell the club. Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, has been eager to emphasise Abramovich’s long-term commitment to the club, but that has not stopped Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who led the Abu Dhabi United Group’s purchase of Manchester City in September, drawing up a takeover proposal with Falcon Equity, a Swiss-based private-equity partnership.
liveforthereds Post subject: Re: TAKEOVER Talk Thread v.3: G&H given loan extension? (p.18)
Fahim is part of the Abu Dhabi United Group that bought Manchester City
606: DEBATE
Comment