Tweet
Liverpool are tonight in the midst of another crisis as Peter Lim, a Singaporean billionaire has made another offer for the club, hoping to sneak it out from under NESV. The new bid, said to match the terms of NESV’s, and then offer an additional $60 in funding for Roy Hodgson to buy players in January now stands in the way of an easy transition to new ownership. With the injunction filed by everyone’s favorite muppets, Hick and Gillett, being struck down in the High Court it seems clear now that they will be out the door and in the gutter with the rest of rubbish by the October 15th deadline. However, it remains unclear what is to be the fate of the club, as the NESV bid may now be in jeopardy. NESV claim to have secured, and sources have confirmed, an airtight deal to buy the club at the agreed price. Unfortunately, when faced with a higher offer, the Liverpool board may be swayed to challenge the contract with NESV, if it exists, in order to bring in more money through Lim.
None of this bodes well for the club, as further uncertainty will only exacerbate the problem on and off the pitch making relegation more and more likely. Mr Lim, who is being advised by the British firm of lawyers Macfarlanes and by the Wong Partnership of Singapore, still does not know why Mr Broughton went with New England Sports Ventures over him. He thinks that in pure cash terms, his offer was at least as attractive as NESV’s. Mr Lim, was also willing to repay all of Royal Bank of Scotland’s and Wachovia’s £200m of long-term club debt, to take on the other £60m of random debt, and to inject £40m of actual capital, or real money. All the money being provided by him would have come from his own cash savings, he wasn’t planning on borrowing any of it. He was also offering to allow Hodgson to buy players when the transfer window opens. For my part, I doubt Mr. Lim would be a better option, and understand why the offer was rejected.
Mr. Lim had previously attempted to open a chain of Manchester united themed pubs in Singapore, but once the going got tough, he sold the business as it went belly-up. Also, he made his money in the world of stock trading and the shady world of “logistics.” “Logistics,” can mean almost anything, and in Singapore could cover anything from importing food to exporting who knows what. Overall, he seems an unreliable partner who flees when the going gets tough, not exactly ideal for a football club that needs a long term commitment to rebuilding both its brand and squad. For my part, I hope NESV are successful in their take over, and while the devil you know maybe better than the one you don’t, one could scarcely imagine anyone worse than Hicks and Gillett and be taken seriously.
Written by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com
