Bad start: but Purslow is confident the £300m sale to
New England Sports Ventures will go through
Liverpool
chief executive Christian Purslow is confident the proposed
£300million sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures will go
through.
Purslow maintained the Reds board had 'done their homework' on
the American investment group, which owns the Boston Red Sox
baseball team, and said that the club's £237m debt would be wiped
out if the takeover, which is subject to a High Court challenge
from current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, goes through next
week.
He also insisted manager Roy Hodgson's job was safe and
that the Liverpool fans would be given a voice should the new
owners be able to complete their takeover.
Hicks and Gillett borrowed money from the Royal Bank of Scotland
to complete their purchase of Liverpool in 2007, a debt which
Purslow insists would be wiped out by an NESV buy-out.
Purslow told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: 'My
total priority has been to try to remove the debt which has been
put on this club and which has been a cloud since February
2007.
'It is wrong that we should have so much of the money
that comes through the turnstiles or through our commercial
activity go to pay interest on loans.
'A bidder who has been willing with cash to rid of us of all
this long-term debt is by far the largest and most important
priority in evaluating bids.
'We have done our homework and NESV are buying this business
with cash and clearing our debt which transforms our financial
position overnight.'
In new hands: John W Henry, the flamboyant
commodities trader, revitalised the world-famous Boston Red Sox
baseball team
Hicks and Gillett have launched a legal challenge to the
takeover, describing it as invalid and insisting that the offer by
NESV under-valued the club. The High Court case is set to begin on
Tuesday.
If the court rules in favour of Hicks and Gillett, RBS could
call in their debt as early as Friday, when repayment is due in
full, and force Kop Holdings into administration.
That would almost certainly result in a nine-point penalty being
imposed on the club by the Premier League, which would leave them
bottom of the table on minus three points.
However, Purslow said: 'I'm not even contemplating
administration.'
NESV, who own American baseball team the Boston Red Sox, and all
efforts were focused on tying up the deal.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme Purslow also
gave an insight into why NESV had chosen Liverpool, saying:
'Last Monday we had two very good offers to buy our business that
would clear all our debts and I am completely focused on making
sure that the sale completes.
'They (NESV) see a number of parallels with the Red Sox when
they purchased them and Liverpool today and the word that jumps off
the page every time we sit with them is 'winning.'
Protest: Liverpool fans have never warmed to Hicks and
Gillett
'They see winning on the field is linked to how you
perform commercially off the field. They go hand in hand. It's
extremely enjoyable to make sports clubs more successful. Whether
you're a poor or a rich sports fan, winning is great fun and I
sense both of those things when we meet with these
people.
'They approached us. They met our chairman. He was immediately
struck with their seriousness and the entire senior management team
of NESV came to Liverpool.
'They spent a large amount of time in the club doing their work
and those are important signs of people's seriousness in the
transaction business.'
Purslow said he was convinced NESV, fronted by
businessman John W Henry, would supply cash for team building and
unlike Hicks and Gillett would maintain a high-profile presence at
Anfield.
Purslow said: 'You don't spend $300m on buying a sports team for
it to be a mediocre team.
'If they buy Liverpool I would expect them to be very visible
around the business. They are serious people, they're deadly
serious about wanting to succeed. I can't imagine they'd be
hands-off for one minute.'
Purslow also insisted that if the deal went through the
Liverpool fans, who have protested vociferously against the current
owners, would be given a say in how the club was run.
He said: 'Our fans have felt totally disenfranchised by the
experience of the last three years. One thing I really liked about
NESV is they are really serious about the importance of engaging
with their fans.
'I've asked them to consider a scheme at our club that will give
our fans a real sense of ownership, a real sense of inclusion, the
kind of voice they deserve and NESV have told us they'll look at
this very seriously if they complete.
'It's not been easy with the current owners - tensions have been
high and so that side of things has been difficult but now that we
have potential new ownership I don't want to miss the opportunity
to make sure that our fans never again feel so
disenfranchised.
Under pressure: Liverpool are currently in the
relegation zone following a disastrous start to this season's
campaign
'The most important principle is that fans need to feel
that they have a means to express their views and to be listened to
and the sense of ownership obviously is the most extreme example of
that.'
Purslow also urged Hicks and Gillett to call off their High
Court action and to walk away from Anfield for the good of the
club.
He said: 'Right now they do have an opportunity with one simple
short correspondence today to allow a sale to complete and that
would clear the club of all the acquisition debt and give us a
massive lift before the Everton game(next Sunday). A fresh start
and real hope for our fans and players that we can get back to the
top.
'That's in their gift and would enable them to leave with some
dignity and some peace rather than precipitating a messy dispute. I
hope they'll think about that.'
When asked about Hodgson's contract, which had been reported to
include an exit clause, Purslow said: 'There is nothing in Roy's
contract which is not totally standard under the LMA (League
Managers' Association) guidelines.'
Pressed if Hodgson would be part of the set-up if the takeover
is completed Puslow replied: 'Absolutely.'
Purslow, however, was unclear whether it would mean a new
stadium for the club.
'We've shown NESV all the plans around the stadium that we have
planning permisson for in Stanley Park,' said Purslow. 'They
know we believe this is the way forward and have been very
impressed by that. It's been a key ingredient in attracting them to
Liverpool.
'A bit too much has been made that when they bought the Red Sox
they refurbished the existing stadium. In fact the same ownership
group in two previous teams built new stadia in Baltimore and San
Diego.
'It's simple, given that a new owner will be paying for a new
stadium it is entirely reasonable and their prerogative that when
they get here they want to pull up the carpets, fine-tune the
detail that we are proposing and make their final decision. They
want to increase the capacity of Liverpool Football Club.'
