New owners Tom Hicks and George
Gillett have secured unconditional control of Liverpool.
The American sports tycoons have confirmed they have acquired 80.7%
of the Anfield club's shares.
The news means to duo will assume 100 per cent buy-out before
Liverpool's UEFA Champions League first-leg quarter-final tie with
PSV Eindhoven on 4th April.
The duo have already unveiled plans to move to a new 60,000 stadium
in Stanley Park, wipe out the club's £80m debt and provide manager
Rafael Benitez with a huge transfer kitty.
"This is an historic day for the club. It's obviously very pleasing
to hear that George and Tom have reached the threshold they
required and I'm sure they're equally delighted with the news,"
said the club's chief executive Rick Parry.
"It's not come as a great surprise to us because from the moment we
accepted the bid the response has been positive.
"There are some formalities to go through before Tom and George
take over as co-chairman.
"Having received indications they can buy the shares, the process
of purchasing now begins. That can take a week or two. The next
game they will be attending will be against Arsenal on March 31, by
which time the process should be concluded."
The Americans need just another nine per cent to force a compulsory
purchase of every share, and they have extended Monday's 3pm
deadline until 26th March to allow remaining small shareholders to
agree to sell.