While our government work hard to sell the Singapore Brand!
Peter Lim has his way - Buy Liverpool FC, you'll never walk
alone.
Hail the King
Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim has increased his offer to buy
over troubled English football giants Liverpool to £360m (S$750m)
.
The new proposal, which tops that of rival bidder New England
Sports Ventures (NESV) by £60m, is made up entirely of cash. It
also includes £40m for purchase of new players.
It will also remove the entire acquisition debt of £200m taken
on by the existing owners, Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks,
that has cast uncertainty over the club’s future.
In a short statement released to the media, Lim said, “I respect
and admire Liverpool Football Club, which is steeped in tradition
and history. I am committed to rebuild the Club so that it can soon
regain its position at the pinnacle of English and European
football, where it truly belongs. This is why I have stepped
forward with this offer.”
The 57-year-old self-made billionaire, who ironically is known
to be a die-hard Manchester United fan, say he’s keen to see the
struggling Reds succeed again.
“The club needs to strengthen its existing squad. As part of
this offer, I will be injecting £40m in cash into the Club for Roy
Hodgson to bring in new players during the upcoming transfer
window. Liverpool needs to start winning again!,” he said.
He also left no doubt as to the seriousness of his offer to buy
out the Anfield club, whose prized player assets include Steven
Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
“My offer provides a firm financial platform from which the club
can rebuild. Given the manner in which the sale process has been
handled, I feel Martin (Broughton) and the Board owe it to me, to
the Club, and to the supporters, to consider my offer,” he
concluded.
He did not make any mention of Manchester United or the rival
bid by American consortium NESV, who are funded by American
billionaire John Henry.
Football fans in Singapore, however, have reacted in equal doses
of surprise and puzzlement.
Lim, who’s known to be a huge football fan, is ranked the
eighth-richest Singaporean with an estimated wealth of S$2 billion
by Forbes.
But what rankles many Reds fans is that he’s also known to be a
die-hard fan of English arch-rival club, Manchester United.
Lim has exclusive rights to own and operate a chain of Red
Devils-themed restaurants and bars in Asia. Singapore-listed
fashion retailer FJ Benjamin, in which Lim is the second-largest
shareholder, also previously operated the Manchester United Theatre
of Dreams store at Orchard Parade Hotel.
Manager Desmond Tan, 34, who has been supporting Liverpool for
over 20 years, said,”How can someone with ties to Manchester United
want Liverpool to do well? It’s seriously conflicting. If he even
wants to be taken seriously, he needs to give up his Man U ties
first.”
But what if Lim, who is known to be a shrewd investor, has the
resources to turn the debt-saddled Anfield giants around?
Tan replied, “Will you let your wife sleep with one rich
businessman like in the show “Indecent Proposal” just so that you
can stay afloat? I cannot accept it. If the deal goes
through, I will still support the Reds, but I will not be
supporting anything he does. Why can’t he buy Manchester United
instead? Don’t they have debts too?”
Another Liverpool fan, Amir Syarifuddin, 36, said Lim deserved a
chance.
“If he is a businessman, then the success of the club will
always come first ,so he will do everything to see the club
succeed,” said the engineer, who’s been a Reds fan for over 15
years.
Polytechnic lecturer, Edwin Lim, who’s a die-hard Red Devil,
offered a different perspective.
“It just goes to show Peter Lim is a football fan, first and
foremost, and then an English Premier League fan. I hope Liverpool
fans can finally stop saying that we Man U fans do not care about
Liverpool at all. We know that if Liverpool didn’t exist, we
wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today,” he said.
Another football fan, Gabriel Wong, 25, who doesn’t support
either Liverpool or Man United, said, “From a neutral standpoint,
Peter Lim’s bid may seem more attractive because, at least, he’s
willing to stake his personal fortune in the club. For all you
know, accepting the US bid might lead to a similar situation with
George Gillett and Tom Hicks later on.”
US BILLIONAIRE JOHN HENRY V SINGAPORE’S PETER LIM
The buyout talks involving Liverpool are rapidly turning into a
complex tug-of-war between American billionaire John Henry and
Singapore’s very own Peter Lim.
Lim was reportedly told by text message last week that Liverpool
chairman Martin Broughton had rejected his offer in favour of a
rival bid from New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which is funded
by US billionaire John Henry.
NESV, which also owns US Major League Baseball side, the Boston
Red Sox, has now signed a binding agreement but current club
co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. are trying to block the
sale because they say it undervalues the club.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which holds the bulk of Liverpool’s
debt, has since obtained an interim injunction preventing the
co-owners from firing board members — chairman Broughton,
commercial director Ian Ayre and managing director Christian
Purslow — for accepting the sale.
The case goes to court on Tuesday. If the court rules in favour
of the Americans, then the sale of Liverpool to NESV will fall
through — which may provide Lim with an avenue to once again pursue
his interest of the Merseyside club.
The BBC has quoted sources close to Lim that said he was in fact
the club’s “preferred bidder” in the closing stages of the
talks.
Lim reportedly was so confident he would win the contest he was
discussing with Broughton about how to announce his takeover only
to be texted at the last minute that Liverpool had gone with NESV’s
rival bid of £300m.
“He never had a chance to negotiate directly with Royal Bank (of
Scotland). He was expecting to do so, after agreeing the takeover
with the board,” said the source close to Mr Lim.
Lim reportedly still does not know why Mr Broughton went with
NESV, especially considering that his “more attractive” bid would
be funded entirely from his own cash resources with no borrowing
involved.
However, ESPN Soccernet has since reported that NESV would
not allow Lim to muscle his way into the deal despite his improved
offer.
The son of a fishmonger, Lim made his fortune as a stock broker
and became a private investor in 1996. He keeps a relatively low
profile and is media-shy but his key stock holdings include stakes
in Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil firm, and
regional education provider Informatics, which he turned around
after the firm had fallen on hard times.
Earlier this month, he invested about US$100 million in Global
Logistic Properties, a giant provider of warehouse facilities in
China and Japan that is majority owned by Singapore sovereign
wealth fund GIC.
People who know Lim said his interest in Liverpool stemmed from
his love of soccer, and he recently donated S$10 million ($7.65
million) to the Singapore Olympics Foundation for scholarships for
promising young athletes from poor families.
