Liverpool FC owners' £100m credit crunch
LIVERPOOL'S American owners are facing a major credit crunch backlash over stalled plans to build a new stadium for the Reds.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett may need to put in as much as £100m of their own money if they want to borrow a further £200m.
And that casts massive doubt over their ability to go ahead with the ambition of building the 70,000 seat-plus super stadium, designed by Dallas based architects HKS and rolled out amid a fanfare of publicity last year
Given the global credit crunch, banks are no longer prepared to allow 100 per cent borrowings and are currently asking for at least one third of the amount needed for major projects to be put up front by would-be borrowers.
Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool for £220m in February last year - most of it with borrowed cash - and have since refinanced their original loans with a further £350m loan deal, which leaves the club responsible for annual interest payments of around £39m a year.
The Americans, who have become estranged and embittered over recent months, are now on speaking terms again following Gillett's admission on Friday that they needed to set aside their communications differences for the sake of the club.
But the worldwide clampdown on lending means they would still face huge problems raising the deposit now needed for what is effectively a mortgage to build a new Anfield.
The Dubaian government, headed by Sheik Mohammed al Rashid bin Maktoum, remain keen to buy out the Americans. And, as a sovereign wealth fund, it is claimed that unlike the Americans would to some degree be protected from the interest rates and pressures exerted by banks over private investors.
Reports that the Reds are considering a £15m swoop for Hamburg winger Rafael van der Vaart, meanwhile, are wide of the mark.
Completing Gareth Barry's transfer from Aston Villa remains Rafa Benitez's priority, with any future purchases dependent on the sales of Xabi Alonso and Peter Crouch.
Juventus are still short of Liverpool's valuation of their £16m rated Spanish playmaker, while there has been no contact from Portsmouth - formal or informal - regarding Crouch.
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I'm sorry, but this type of articles is nothing more then guess work and speculation, something this club needs like a hole in the head ..... so please stop the negative!
Its difficult for all people in business, how do i know, I'm in business :-)the credit crunch is harming EVERYONE including the DIC group who always borrow for each venture ... standard business process!
Its funny really, people are complaining about the yanks .. yet the DIC are far more ruthless in there business dealings and they have made it clear that LFC are a good investment, otherwise they wouldn't look twice at this club, so people please wake up, this is not about who might be in charge but whoever is, will treat us like a business and NO ... they won't be throwing silly money at Rafa each season! Only filthy rich russians can do that, but then you have to accept they want to get involved in which players to buy etc ...
I'm happy to stay with the present setup for now and see where we are at the end of next season .....
I would also like to setup a protest against all those so called LFC fans who are blindly happy to diss and protest against the yanks without realising the negative effect they are having on the club, manager and players .....
Good season ahead ....
reikirebel :-)