Turning this into an ALL THINGS LIVERPOOL POST THAT IS UPDATED
Steven Gerrard has today spoken of his delight following the result of the court hearing held in London this morning.
The Reds skipper believes the ruling is positive news for the club and is now focused on moving towards a bright future.
Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.tv: "It's a fantastic result and credit needs to go to Christian, Ian and the Chairman who have worked so hard on this.
"It seems things are nearly sorted off the pitch so we need to start getting them right on it by getting three points at Goodison on Sunday.
"I know how frustrated the fans have been with what has been going on and I can understand their feelings. But we've all suffered in this, especially the supporters, and now it's time for us all to pull together and help move the club forward."
SOURCE
STILL SO HAPPY ABOUT THE VERDICT. NOW LET'S GET A WIN SUNDAY, BOYS! AND OT I'VE BEEN AT WORK SINCE 9 AM YESTERDAY, WITH ANOTHER HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES TO GO. LIVERPOOL SPAM PLZ TY. AND SORRY CAPS LOCK IS STUCK :/
Liverpool's confidence that Fernando Torres will be fit for Sunday's Merseyside derby has been tempered by fears Dirk Kuyt could be out for three months with an ankle injury.
The Holland forward suffered the injury during the 4-1 Euro 2012 qualifying victory over Sweden last night. A scan was unable to provide a clear diagnosis due to swelling around his right ankle and it may be several days before the 30-year-old discovers the extent of the problem. The early indication, however, is that Kuyt sustained serious ligament damage and will be out until January as a consequence.
Kuyt's injury is a major setback for Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, who is also awaiting confirmation of the back injury that forced Daniel Agger out of Denmark's win over Cyprus.
SOURCE
9.21pm: The feeling is that an announcement is imminent. Cars have turned up outside the Slaughter & May offices and the engines have been left running, a sign that the participants in the board meeting are about to emerge.
9.38pm: Dan Roan on Twitter: "Liverpool's communications advisor Craig Breheny has arrived at board meeting - suggests statement now imminent."
9.50pm Hmmm. This is going very slowly. After it seemed an announcement was imminent, the board meeting is still going on. What's the hold up? Are Hicks and Gillett making it difficult?
GET THE FUCK OUT H&G. RIGHT NOW.
9.58pm: Are Hicks and Gillett making life difficult? Are they ever. News reaches us that a Texas court has issued a restraining order on the sale of the club, calling it an "epic swindle".
LOL WHAT?! BRB GOTTA DRIVE HOME
10pm: Further to this story about a Texas court issuing an injunction on the sale of the club, Owen Gibson writes that Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages.
10.06pm: The big question that everyone is asking right now is precisely what jurisdiction does this Texas court have over the sale of the club?
10.09pm: Forty minutes ago we were expecting an announcement on the ownership of the club. This is just incredible. Our man on the scene, Owen Gibson, is trying to find out more.
10.15pm: Owen Gibson has passed on the following report about the latest classy move by Hicks & Gillett. It's a long read, but it's worth it.
The owners of Liverpool Football Club today reported that a Texas State District Court has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Board of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) from executing a sale of the Club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). The court set a hearing date of October 25, 2010.
The TRO request, signed by Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th District Court in Dallas, was part of a lawsuit filed today by the owners of LFC against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre, NESV and Philip Nash. The lawsuit also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions, and damages totaling approximately $1.6 billion (over £1 billion).
The suit lays out the defendants' "epic swindle" in which they conspired to devise and execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value (and well below Forbes magazine's recent independent $822 million valuation of the club) - and below multiple expressions of interest and offers to buy either the club in its entirety or make minority investments (including Meriton and Mill Financial). It describes how the defendants excluded the owners from meetings, discussions and communications regarding the potential sale to NESV and interfered with efforts by the owners to obtain financing for Liverpool FC.
The Club's owners are represented by attorneys from the international law firm of Fish & Richardson.
The following are some of the key points in the complaint, which details the roles of RBS and the other defendants, and also describes previously undisclosed offers to purchase LFC:
"The Director Defendants were acting merely as pawns of RBS, wholly abdicating the fiduciary responsibilities that they owed in the sale."
"RBS has been complicit in this scheme with the Director Defendants. For example, in letters from RBS to potential investors obtained just within the past few days, RBS has informed investors that it will approve of a deal only if there is "no economic return to equity" for Messrs. Hicks and Gillett. In furtherance of this grand conspiracy, on information and belief, RBS has improperly used its influence as the club's creditor and as a worldwide banking leader to prevent any transaction that would permit Messrs. Hicks and Gillett to recover any of their initial investment in the club, much less share in the substantial appreciation in the value of Liverpool FC that their investments have created."
"On or about October 4, 2010, Mr. Hicks received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets ("FBR"), offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400 million ($595 to $635 million). The letter informed Mr. Hicks that the potential purchaser would not need financing, possessed the funds to close the transaction, and intended to build a new stadium for Liverpool FC."
"Additionally, the Plaintiffs learned just days ago about another potential investor that made a similar offer in the £350 to £400 million range that was communicated to Defendant Broughton and another unnamed co-conspirator in late August. According to this investor, Mr. Broughton never responded to the offer. Moreover, when the purported sale to NESV was announced, this investor again contacted Mr. Broughton and informed him that the offer, which significantly exceeded the NESV offer, was still on the table. Again, Mr. Broughton brushed this offer aside without further discussion."
10.30pm: So to sum up the latest developments:
• A Texas court has issued an injunction against the sale of Liverpool football club to NESV.
• Hicks and Gillett have called the attempted sale an "epic swindle". =
• There are claims the attempted sale to NESV was well below the market value of Liverpool.
• Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages.
• The pair have accused RBS of a "grand conspiracy".
• Hicks has claimed he received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets on 4 October 2010 offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400m.
• It is claimed another offer was also made in the £350m-400m range in August and that Martin Broughton never responded to this offer.
UGH FUCK
10.37pm: We await to hear from legal experts precisely what authority a court in Texas has over the sale of Liverpool. Brass necks doesn't really begin to cover this, does it?
10.40pm: I've had the documents regarding the restraining order in my inbox for a while but I haven't been able to make them visible on this blog yet. Luckily Jason Cuthbert has emailed me this link, and if you scroll down the page, you can read the TRO in all its glory.
10.48pm: More on the jurisdiction issue. "If Royal Bank of Scotland does business dealings in Texas, courts there would certainly have personal jurisdiction over the bank," writes Daniel Stauss.
Elsewhere in the Telegraph Paul Kelso claims that "The jurisdiction of the Texas order in the UK was not immediately clear, but sources said the impact of the action could be to put RBS, which has considerable US interests, Broughton, through his role as BA chairman, and NESV in contempt of a US Court."
11.15pm: Liverpool's board of directors have called this latest move by Hicks and Gillett "unwarranted" and " damaging". They will move as quickly as possible to get the TRO removed.
OKAY, SO WE'VE GOT THE JUDGE'S FACEBOOK
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
11.22pm: "I hope this whole saga with LFC will help other fans of leveraged clubs reflect on the potential damage this can do to our game and the clubs burdened with it," writes Keith Chesworth. "As a Liverpool fan I am of course delighted to hopefully see the last of these two Americans. No club should have to go through this. There should be a process or system in place to warn of, and action, to prevent such things from escalating to such levels. Manchester Utd are a big hit waiting to happen and although we have a fierce rivalry I would not want them to go through this as we have done. It is wrecking.LFC and Man UTD are to football what the ashes are to cricket.lose them and you have lost the soul in football."
11.23pm: It goes without saying that Liverpool still intend to complete the sale to NESV, although of course they need to get rid of the TRO first.
FROM HERE
okay, so i had to leave for a bit and went back to look and see if i had missed anything crucial. i don't see too much from the last thing i posted, so i will post this:
Right, here's Owen Gibson's piece on the front page of today's paper.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett last night tried to derail Liverpool's sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox by obtaining a temporary injunction in a Dallas court, claiming $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages and calling it an "epic swindle". The club immediately responded by vowing to overturn the "unwarranted and damaging" order as talks with New England Joint Ventures continued into the early hours after yesterday's resounding victory in the high court.
As Liverpool's reconstituted board met with NESV, on the verge of a deal to buy the club for £300m and bring the tenure of Hicks and Gillett to a close, the duo launched a desperate bid to reopen the sale process. The restraining order appears to prevent a sale taking place before the hearing on 25 October. Now the boards of Kop Football and Kop Holdings accept they must fight to have it removed in order to proceed with the sale to NESV.
A statement on the Liverpool website read: "The independent directors consider the restraining order to be unwarranted and damaging and will move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it removed."
The news of the restraining order came in a statement posted on the website of the American law firm Fish & Richardson. The Texas District State Court petition accuses the chairman, Martin Broughton, appointed by the creditors Royal Bank of Scotland in April to oversee the sale of the club, and his fellow directors of acting as "pawns" of RBS to perpetrate an "epic swindle" in selling the club to NESV for less than half its supposed market value and ignoring several higher offers.
SO JOIN ME IN SAYING FUCK YOU GILLETT AND HICKS, AND JUST GET THE FUCK YOU. YOU LOOK DUMB.
The Reds skipper believes the ruling is positive news for the club and is now focused on moving towards a bright future.
Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.tv: "It's a fantastic result and credit needs to go to Christian, Ian and the Chairman who have worked so hard on this.
"It seems things are nearly sorted off the pitch so we need to start getting them right on it by getting three points at Goodison on Sunday.
"I know how frustrated the fans have been with what has been going on and I can understand their feelings. But we've all suffered in this, especially the supporters, and now it's time for us all to pull together and help move the club forward."
SOURCE
STILL SO HAPPY ABOUT THE VERDICT. NOW LET'S GET A WIN SUNDAY, BOYS! AND OT I'VE BEEN AT WORK SINCE 9 AM YESTERDAY, WITH ANOTHER HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES TO GO. LIVERPOOL SPAM PLZ TY. AND SORRY CAPS LOCK IS STUCK :/
Liverpool's confidence that Fernando Torres will be fit for Sunday's Merseyside derby has been tempered by fears Dirk Kuyt could be out for three months with an ankle injury.
The Holland forward suffered the injury during the 4-1 Euro 2012 qualifying victory over Sweden last night. A scan was unable to provide a clear diagnosis due to swelling around his right ankle and it may be several days before the 30-year-old discovers the extent of the problem. The early indication, however, is that Kuyt sustained serious ligament damage and will be out until January as a consequence.
Kuyt's injury is a major setback for Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, who is also awaiting confirmation of the back injury that forced Daniel Agger out of Denmark's win over Cyprus.
SOURCE
9.21pm: The feeling is that an announcement is imminent. Cars have turned up outside the Slaughter & May offices and the engines have been left running, a sign that the participants in the board meeting are about to emerge.
9.38pm: Dan Roan on Twitter: "Liverpool's communications advisor Craig Breheny has arrived at board meeting - suggests statement now imminent."
9.50pm Hmmm. This is going very slowly. After it seemed an announcement was imminent, the board meeting is still going on. What's the hold up? Are Hicks and Gillett making it difficult?
GET THE FUCK OUT H&G. RIGHT NOW.
9.58pm: Are Hicks and Gillett making life difficult? Are they ever. News reaches us that a Texas court has issued a restraining order on the sale of the club, calling it an "epic swindle".
LOL WHAT?! BRB GOTTA DRIVE HOME
10pm: Further to this story about a Texas court issuing an injunction on the sale of the club, Owen Gibson writes that Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages.
10.06pm: The big question that everyone is asking right now is precisely what jurisdiction does this Texas court have over the sale of the club?
10.09pm: Forty minutes ago we were expecting an announcement on the ownership of the club. This is just incredible. Our man on the scene, Owen Gibson, is trying to find out more.
10.15pm: Owen Gibson has passed on the following report about the latest classy move by Hicks & Gillett. It's a long read, but it's worth it.
The owners of Liverpool Football Club today reported that a Texas State District Court has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Board of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) from executing a sale of the Club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). The court set a hearing date of October 25, 2010.
The TRO request, signed by Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th District Court in Dallas, was part of a lawsuit filed today by the owners of LFC against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre, NESV and Philip Nash. The lawsuit also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions, and damages totaling approximately $1.6 billion (over £1 billion).
The suit lays out the defendants' "epic swindle" in which they conspired to devise and execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value (and well below Forbes magazine's recent independent $822 million valuation of the club) - and below multiple expressions of interest and offers to buy either the club in its entirety or make minority investments (including Meriton and Mill Financial). It describes how the defendants excluded the owners from meetings, discussions and communications regarding the potential sale to NESV and interfered with efforts by the owners to obtain financing for Liverpool FC.
The Club's owners are represented by attorneys from the international law firm of Fish & Richardson.
The following are some of the key points in the complaint, which details the roles of RBS and the other defendants, and also describes previously undisclosed offers to purchase LFC:
"The Director Defendants were acting merely as pawns of RBS, wholly abdicating the fiduciary responsibilities that they owed in the sale."
"RBS has been complicit in this scheme with the Director Defendants. For example, in letters from RBS to potential investors obtained just within the past few days, RBS has informed investors that it will approve of a deal only if there is "no economic return to equity" for Messrs. Hicks and Gillett. In furtherance of this grand conspiracy, on information and belief, RBS has improperly used its influence as the club's creditor and as a worldwide banking leader to prevent any transaction that would permit Messrs. Hicks and Gillett to recover any of their initial investment in the club, much less share in the substantial appreciation in the value of Liverpool FC that their investments have created."
"On or about October 4, 2010, Mr. Hicks received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets ("FBR"), offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400 million ($595 to $635 million). The letter informed Mr. Hicks that the potential purchaser would not need financing, possessed the funds to close the transaction, and intended to build a new stadium for Liverpool FC."
"Additionally, the Plaintiffs learned just days ago about another potential investor that made a similar offer in the £350 to £400 million range that was communicated to Defendant Broughton and another unnamed co-conspirator in late August. According to this investor, Mr. Broughton never responded to the offer. Moreover, when the purported sale to NESV was announced, this investor again contacted Mr. Broughton and informed him that the offer, which significantly exceeded the NESV offer, was still on the table. Again, Mr. Broughton brushed this offer aside without further discussion."
10.30pm: So to sum up the latest developments:
• A Texas court has issued an injunction against the sale of Liverpool football club to NESV.
• Hicks and Gillett have called the attempted sale an "epic swindle". =
• There are claims the attempted sale to NESV was well below the market value of Liverpool.
• Hicks and Gillett are claiming $1.6bn in damages.
• The pair have accused RBS of a "grand conspiracy".
• Hicks has claimed he received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets on 4 October 2010 offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400m.
• It is claimed another offer was also made in the £350m-400m range in August and that Martin Broughton never responded to this offer.
UGH FUCK
10.37pm: We await to hear from legal experts precisely what authority a court in Texas has over the sale of Liverpool. Brass necks doesn't really begin to cover this, does it?
10.40pm: I've had the documents regarding the restraining order in my inbox for a while but I haven't been able to make them visible on this blog yet. Luckily Jason Cuthbert has emailed me this link, and if you scroll down the page, you can read the TRO in all its glory.
10.48pm: More on the jurisdiction issue. "If Royal Bank of Scotland does business dealings in Texas, courts there would certainly have personal jurisdiction over the bank," writes Daniel Stauss.
Elsewhere in the Telegraph Paul Kelso claims that "The jurisdiction of the Texas order in the UK was not immediately clear, but sources said the impact of the action could be to put RBS, which has considerable US interests, Broughton, through his role as BA chairman, and NESV in contempt of a US Court."
11.15pm: Liverpool's board of directors have called this latest move by Hicks and Gillett "unwarranted" and " damaging". They will move as quickly as possible to get the TRO removed.
OKAY, SO WE'VE GOT THE JUDGE'S FACEBOOK
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
11.22pm: "I hope this whole saga with LFC will help other fans of leveraged clubs reflect on the potential damage this can do to our game and the clubs burdened with it," writes Keith Chesworth. "As a Liverpool fan I am of course delighted to hopefully see the last of these two Americans. No club should have to go through this. There should be a process or system in place to warn of, and action, to prevent such things from escalating to such levels. Manchester Utd are a big hit waiting to happen and although we have a fierce rivalry I would not want them to go through this as we have done. It is wrecking.LFC and Man UTD are to football what the ashes are to cricket.lose them and you have lost the soul in football."
11.23pm: It goes without saying that Liverpool still intend to complete the sale to NESV, although of course they need to get rid of the TRO first.
FROM HERE
okay, so i had to leave for a bit and went back to look and see if i had missed anything crucial. i don't see too much from the last thing i posted, so i will post this:
Right, here's Owen Gibson's piece on the front page of today's paper.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett last night tried to derail Liverpool's sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox by obtaining a temporary injunction in a Dallas court, claiming $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages and calling it an "epic swindle". The club immediately responded by vowing to overturn the "unwarranted and damaging" order as talks with New England Joint Ventures continued into the early hours after yesterday's resounding victory in the high court.
As Liverpool's reconstituted board met with NESV, on the verge of a deal to buy the club for £300m and bring the tenure of Hicks and Gillett to a close, the duo launched a desperate bid to reopen the sale process. The restraining order appears to prevent a sale taking place before the hearing on 25 October. Now the boards of Kop Football and Kop Holdings accept they must fight to have it removed in order to proceed with the sale to NESV.
A statement on the Liverpool website read: "The independent directors consider the restraining order to be unwarranted and damaging and will move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it removed."
The news of the restraining order came in a statement posted on the website of the American law firm Fish & Richardson. The Texas District State Court petition accuses the chairman, Martin Broughton, appointed by the creditors Royal Bank of Scotland in April to oversee the sale of the club, and his fellow directors of acting as "pawns" of RBS to perpetrate an "epic swindle" in selling the club to NESV for less than half its supposed market value and ignoring several higher offers.
SO JOIN ME IN SAYING FUCK YOU GILLETT AND HICKS, AND JUST GET THE FUCK YOU. YOU LOOK DUMB.