asteroidblitz 12 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Liverpool owners granted extra time to repay £350m loan The Guardian, Tuesday 6 January 2009 Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been granted a six-month period of grace to repay £350.5m to Liverpool's lenders. Those funds, provided last January as "working capital" to run Liverpool and including £60m towards constructing a new stadium, were due to be repaid or refinanced by 25 January. But the banks – the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland and the US investment bank Wachovia – have deferred the deadline. That came following a written request from Liverpool's American co-owners and their holding company, Kop Football, with the new deadline now set at 24 July. "The loan does not mature on 24 January," said an insider involved in the deal. The Anfield club are currently the Premier League leaders but with £30m in annual interest repayments required, the supplementary income from Champions League participation is critical to their business. By July, Liverpool hope, those revenues will be guaranteed. Although this provides breathing space in the short term, it is unclear how RBS-Wachovia will deal with the loan in the summer. The loan currently earns little more than 5% a year in interest, despite the risk involved with football clubs. City sources expect that even if RBS-Wachovia agree to renegotiate the debt in July they are likely to demand a very large fee, which will further increase Liverpool's indebtedness. Another imponderable is the financial health of George Gillett's portfolio. Reports in the US say his Nascar team has been scaling back its activities after a drop in sponsorship. His Booth Creek Management Corp is exposed to the ailing automobile industry as the owner of dealerships. Although both Hicks and Gillett regularly stress their continued commitment to Liverpool, one route out of repaying the debt has now closed. Takeover interest from Dubai has been withdrawn following the collapse in the world economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbsweeney 0 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Liverpool owners granted extra time to repay £350m loanThe Guardian, Tuesday 6 January 2009 Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been granted a six-month period of grace to repay £350.5m to Liverpool's lenders. Those funds, provided last January as "working capital" to run Liverpool and including £60m towards constructing a new stadium, were due to be repaid or refinanced by 25 January. But the banks – the government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland and the US investment bank Wachovia – have deferred the deadline. That came following a written request from Liverpool's American co-owners and their holding company, Kop Football, with the new deadline now set at 24 July. "The loan does not mature on 24 January," said an insider involved in the deal. The Anfield club are currently the Premier League leaders but with £30m in annual interest repayments required, the supplementary income from Champions League participation is critical to their business. By July, Liverpool hope, those revenues will be guaranteed. Although this provides breathing space in the short term, it is unclear how RBS-Wachovia will deal with the loan in the summer. The loan currently earns little more than 5% a year in interest, despite the risk involved with football clubs. City sources expect that even if RBS-Wachovia agree to renegotiate the debt in July they are likely to demand a very large fee, which will further increase Liverpool's indebtedness. Another imponderable is the financial health of George Gillett's portfolio. Reports in the US say his Nascar team has been scaling back its activities after a drop in sponsorship. His Booth Creek Management Corp is exposed to the ailing automobile industry as the owner of dealerships. Although both Hicks and Gillett regularly stress their continued commitment to Liverpool, one route out of repaying the debt has now closed. Takeover interest from Dubai has been withdrawn following the collapse in the world economy. We live in hope. However, I'd prefer: Liverpool Manchester United in deep financial shit. Downfall of club blamed on Tom Hicks Sir Alex Ferguson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Well Ashley might not look so bad IF every other major British team folds under a mountain of debt...... until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Ashley has probably done the right thing re: the club on the financial side of things imo. We obviously got lucky on that score though (unlike him) because had he predicted what was going to happen in the financial markets he wouldn't have lost 100s of millions like he (allegedly) has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Jay Sea 0 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'm aggrieved that Ashley 'reportedly' lost £130 million last year through gambling when 1/2 of that cash or even a 1/4, no fuck it a 1/6 or even a 1/7 could have seen him at least 'try' and buy our way out of trouble via this transfer window with some of his cash. The big oafy galute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I would imagine he lost a lot more since the arse fell out the FTSE 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norbert Colon 0 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 His company declared a 77milion profit two weeks ago - he is doing something right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'm aggrieved that Ashley 'reportedly' lost £130 million last year through gambling when 1/2 of that cash or even a 1/4, no fuck it a 1/6 or even a 1/7 could have seen him at least 'try' and buy our way out of trouble via this transfer window with some of his cash. The big oafy galute. The man is clearly bufoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15552 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'm aggrieved that Ashley 'reportedly' lost £130 million last year through gambling when 1/2 of that cash or even a 1/4, no fuck it a 1/6 or even a 1/7 could have seen him at least 'try' and buy our way out of trouble via this transfer window with some of his cash. The big oafy galute. The man is clearly bufoon. Then we can safely sell Given after all. Hurrah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'm aggrieved that Ashley 'reportedly' lost £130 million last year through gambling when 1/2 of that cash or even a 1/4, no fuck it a 1/6 or even a 1/7 could have seen him at least 'try' and buy our way out of trouble via this transfer window with some of his cash. The big oafy galute. The man is clearly bufoon. Then we can safely sell Given after all. Hurrah! Perhaps we haven't yet found the bottom of Ashley buffoonery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I rate Given as better than Buffon anyway. [/stevie / StevieJnr] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I rate Given as better than Buffon anyway. [/stevie / StevieJnr] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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