FOLLOWING its decision to transfer ownership to a more vibrant persons, the Liverpool board of directors has accepted an offer by New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team, to buy the English football club, a statement said yesterday.
Chairman Martin Broughton hit out at Liverpool’s current American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for trying to block the sale and said he hoped the deal would allow the team to focus on building the club.
“I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process, which has been thorough and extensive,” Broughton said in the statement on the club’s website.
“The board decided to accept NESV’s proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV’s philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at the Red Sox.”
Broughton said the board had met the United States (U.S.) group in Boston, London and Liverpool in recent weeks and was “immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club.”
He added: “By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team. I am only disappointed that the owners have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale.”
The offers came a day after Hicks and Gillett attempted to remove two senior figures from the club’s board of directors. Hicks and Gillett were under pressure to sell the club with an October 15 deadline for the repayment of their £282 million ($448 million) loans from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.
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