Hicks terminates DIC talks

Liverpool co-owner calls time on Dubai-based investment

Last updated: 10th March 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hicks terminates DIC talks

Hicks: Disappoints DIC

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Tom Hicks has released a statement to confirm Liverpool have terminated discussions with Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) over a possible purchase of a minority stake in the club.

DIC have long been linked with a potential takeover of the Anfield outfit since dropping out of the race to assume control of Liverpool in January 2007, to allow Americans Hicks and George Gillett to buy the club.

While Hicks has always maintained his desire to retain a majority share on Merseyside, co-owner Gillett is thought to be willing to relinquish his stake in the club.

DIC have been in advanced discussions with Liverpool over the past couple of days but Hicks has now confirmed talks have failed to yield a positive outcome.

Hicks' statement suggests the differences which failed to be resolved concerned how the club would be run, rather than financial matters.

No deal

The statement, released on the club's official website, read: "Based on a meeting held earlier today in Dubai between my representatives and officials of Dubai International Capital LLC, as well as other recent contacts between us and them, I have decided to terminate any further discussions with DIC regarding their possible purchase of a minority stake in Kop and, in turn, in the club.

"DIC made it clear that if they invested in the club, they would want it to be managed by committee. Based on my thirteen years of successful experience as an owner of professional sports teams, and based in particular on the situation at Liverpool Football Club over the past year, it is clear to me that such a committee approach would not be in the best interest of Kop, of the club or of the club's loyal and passionate supporters.

"Accordingly, I have decided to exercise my right under the Kop Football (Holdings) Limited partnership agreement to veto any sale of any portion of Kop and the club to DIC."

Talks off

Hicks has over the weekend denounced DIC's conduct in trying to acquire 49 percent of the Reds from Gillett, with the Texan holding the power to block any such deal as it is understood a pre-emption agreement is in place.

Fundamentally, this means one partner cannot sell his stake without the other's approval.

"I and my colleagues and representatives will continue to explore a number of other options with regard to the ownership of Kop and the club aimed at achieving an appropriate ownership, financial and organizational structure for Kop and the club over the long term," Hicks concluded.

Comments (21)

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Brian Johnson (Liverpool fan) says...

Why is David (Mr Liverpool) Moores geting away lightly in all of this...it was his dcision to sell to the yanks at the last minute as opposed to DIC ....for more personal gain, I understand! Did he not do is homework on these guys?...they are paper rich only and never had sufficient funds to do what the club needed.....empty promises....and meanwhile David Moores has a nice fat bank account! Thirty pieces of silver perhaps...Judas, I say...he should be ashamed of his actions!

Posted 13:36 11th March 2008

Jeff C (Liverpool fan) says...

Come on guys. Don't be fooled !!! Hicks and co have not ploughed millions in to the club at all. Any money Raffa has spent he has earned himself from two champions league finals. Them two achievements alone bring in more money that he has spent. Hicks and co became owners with promises. Not a hole has been dug in Stanely Park for the new stadium. In fact it is well documentd that they had to borrow and since re-negotiate the money for the club. David Moores is the one we, the fans, should be annoyed with. It was he that sold out to these profit driven business men. I do think his interests where sincere at the time but come on. We would have been a whole lot better off if we had Shinawatra as the owner. I don't see Man City in the news every day since he became thier chairman.

Posted 13:02 11th March 2008

Stephen Mcmaugh (Liverpool fan) says...

Nice timing Cowboy, right before one of the most important games of the season, the season has been disrupted enough with your silliness over Jurgen Klinsman. Its clear that when you took over you lied to the fans about your intentions, now it seems that we are so heavily loaded with debt. DIC are run by a proffesional outfit and I do hope they dont give up on LFC.

Posted 11:19 11th March 2008

Jason Dickinson (Liverpool fan) says...

I wish everybody would get behind the owners and give them the backing they deserve after the countless millions they have all ready ploughed into this great club, i think everybody should be thankfull for the signings of babbel,skyrtel,torres,benayoun and mascherano and just get behind them and see what kind of investment these fellas make during the summer and then judge them remember these chaps are not abramovich they are buisness men and buisness men make money, chealsea are just his play thing

Posted 10:42 11th March 2008

Ryan Garbett (Liverpool fan) says...

The fact that Hicks has terminated talks with DIC frustrates and upsets me because what happens now? Liverpool are going to be left in limbo with an owner who cares nothing about the club other than draining what money he can out of it. How much does this guy want? He could have reportedly made £40m by selling now for doing absolutley nothing other than plunging huge debts onto the club with loans which might be in his name but wont cost him a penny as it will all come from the fans in the end. Surely David Moores could have got loans and refinanced etc so what was the point of these Yanks coming anyway? Instead Hicks decides to stick around and wait for either a better offer or worse still until the new ground is up and running so he can cash in then. This guy is an embarrasment to our great club and the fact that Rick Parry has stayed silent on all this says it all as im sure he is just hoping he will wake up and realise this has all been a bad dream and that Liverpool's (mainly his) decision to sell to these American jokers didnt really happen. How are we going to challenge next season with the club in this state and Liverpool trying to make player transfers on £45m of borrowed money which isnt enough to buy the top class players we need anyway? Liverpool fans need to unite and come to a decision on how to get rid of this fat cat American and if that means boycotting matches and merchandising then so be it as although in the short term it might be detrimental to the team long term it will be better for the club as we dont want to end up like Leeds United which is the way I can see it going under the current regime. HICKS OUT!!!

Posted 09:34 11th March 2008

Reginald Appadu (Liverpool fan) says...

All this speculation about ownership and sale is going to ruin an already difficult season. To all supporters now is the time to support the club mainly the manager and players. To Rick Parry you took us in this situation please inform everyone what the real situation is.

Posted 09:15 11th March 2008

Tony Whittam (Manchester United fan) says...

The games people play! especially business people out to make a buck and a quick one at that. We [man u] have been lucky our owners have let the football people get on with their jobs, although we [the fans] are still wary of their motives and some of their influences e.g. rising ticket prices, buts it nothing like the clowns that own LFC at the moment. LFC are one of the Worlds great clubs, who's history has contributed so much to football, through the players, managers and of course the fans. Its the fans who are suffering, the owners are dabbling with something they dont seem to understand. Football isnt about life & death to theses people, its more important than that! [Mr B Shankly]. My point is they have managed to turn the fans against them and destabilise their team. They have failed to understand what football means to Brits and totally underestimate what LFC means to its fan base. This isnt good management. Not by a long way. Lets hope its resolved in a positive way for the club and a positive way for the best Football League in the World.

Posted 09:15 11th March 2008

Liverpool Debt fc says...

They are all business people trying to make money! Why did DIC back out in the first place?, not all Americans are bad!? the Glazers have made ample funds available for Man U and look where they are in the club money league now, most importantly the club is not sat with huge and mounting debt! However, these two are different and have laden Liverpool with the debt, as most of us could have done with the right credit history !! This is a sad time for such a great club ! the finger should be pointed at Moores ! he put the club in this situation with 2 owners who can Veto each other and dont even get on ! did Gillett not have a say ? or is it all about Hicks and his ego !?

Posted 20:52 10th March 2008

Jules Kop 1971 says...

Lets get things into perspective.The game of footall is no longer the beautiful game it once was. The only reason these people put money into clubs is to attempt to gain more. The majority have never played football and don't give a damn about the fans who week in week out pay exorberant fees for tickets every season. They all think we're mugs and you know something? They're right! It's time to fight back and gain some control of our beloved club

Posted 20:38 10th March 2008

Lee Greenwood (Liverpool fan) says...

Mr Hicks & Gillett purchased their stakes in our great club on a vision which at the time met the approval of the former board members...now after purchasing the club they have shown their true colours and gone back on what they promised and are now having to refinance and put our club in to debt. Now they have fallen out with each other which i believe makes both their positions untenable. Therefore i think they should both do the honourable thing and sell to DIC and leave our club alone. This club has a great history and i want to see it have a great future too , which it will not have with Hicks & Gillett!!!!!

Posted 20:37 10th March 2008

Kevin Metcalf (Liverpool fan) says...

Whatever Hicks reasons are for pulling out of the deal, he is right about one thing - a commitee led decision making process involving two seperate parties vying for overall control of the club would benefit no-one, and could do untold harm to the clubs ambitions. OK, so we're not in the best decision making shape as things stand at the moment, but maybe the outcome of this particular deal would have been worse. What we need is one owner, with one clear and viable policy and vision for taking Liverpool FC forward to where we want to be, and if that ends up being Tom Hicks, at least for the short term, then we should all get behind the club with our support, and leave the public infighting behind us and let the media find something else to print. Like Liverpools Premiership crown next season perhaps?

Posted 20:32 10th March 2008

Luke Jones (Liverpool fan) says...

Can't everyone just stop moaning...forget about what's going on "behind" the scenes. What did everyone expect...these americans to "make" our team win the quadruple. It pains me to see Liverpool fans as hypocrites but I remember most people I know laughing at Man U fans when they were bought by Glazier, and they were all trying to get him out. A few years on and its just forgotten about. if we didn't sell our club last year, we wouldn't have Torres, Mascherano and Babel. The americans don't appear to be conducting anything that goes on the pitch, at least they let the manager and the players do that. Of course they're in it for the money. Anyone who is mega rich won't be willing to waste money. But we made a bit of money, getting a new stadium, probably new players, can't Liverpool fans stop being so negative. It's a pity all this is in the media all the time but what's done's done. Maybe whoever's sold our club to these people need to be blamed for giving it to someone who will "drain the club into the ground". Either way, get over it and get behind liverpool tomorrow, innit?

Posted 20:30 10th March 2008

David Tierney (Liverpool fan) says...

Why, so he can prove a point, he's in it for the money. He doesn't care about Liverpool and he should just leave before we become bankrupt and then things get really out of hand.

Posted 19:50 10th March 2008

Liverpool Anfield says...

These Americans need to stop ruining liverpool. What do americans know about football? They call it soccer, and I bet they don't even know the off-side rule. LFC deserve better.

Posted 19:48 10th March 2008

Oli Jones (Liverpool fan) says...

Not sure what to make of this situation. So far the media and fans have been anti-Hicks, and for justified reasons by the looks of things. But these stories of Hick's misconduct maybe just cleverly placed spin in the grand scheme of things. He may not be as bad as the media make out, we simply don't know the full truth...then again, he may just end up contradicting everything I've just said, and justify his position as the anti-christ. Who knows if even DIC have Liverpool FC's true values to heart...they certainly exploited fan's emotions to get them this far in the process, maybe they would have used similar tactics in their running of the club? Either way, the sooner this sorry mess is sorted out, the better. Please someone, put some dignity back into Liverpool FC.

Posted 19:45 10th March 2008

Ian Pirouet (Liverpool fan) says...

I guess Hicks has not made enough money from this venture yet and I will expect when the re-financing for the club has to be done again for the stadium there will be more debt thrust upon our glorious club. I really hope but do not expect to see Hicks try his hardest to get back in the good with the people of Liverpool by any means. I fear that whatever he does will fall on deaf ears as he has conspired to drag this club through the mud this year and has lost all respect or support from many a supporter for the way in which he has conducted his ownership.

Posted 19:43 10th March 2008

Grant Cowlishaw (Liverpool fan) says...

We have to club together and get Hicks out. Boycott games, whatever, but he has too go. I could have bought our club on the basis of loans. How rock solid would DIC have been - no or very little debt. Moores you brought this on our beloved club. Lets just hope that DIC push this 'VETO' rubbish further and gain control. Hicks is simply scared of DIC's intent of owning LFC outright.

Posted 19:26 10th March 2008

Mark Barr (Liverpool fan) says...

Hicks needs to sell up as soon as possible and get out of our club. For him to say "Based on my thirteen years of successful experience as an owner of professional sports teams" is a lie. Ask the Texas Rangers baseball fans and the Dallas All Stars Basketball fans. Hicks drains all resources from a sucessful club and runs them into the ground.

Posted 19:11 10th March 2008

Hugh Bellott (Liverpool fan) says...

All Liverpool supporters and fans should now boycott all Liverpool matches and merchandise. Players and managers should know we support them but cannot provide the current owners with our support or hard earned money. This action is a protest to Kop holding directors only. Actions starts 12th April 08 until the sale of Liverpool FC to DIC.

Posted 19:09 10th March 2008

Shiv Radia says...

This is getting very frustrating. They should just settle issues like this out of the media. It affects the players' performances and puts stress on Rafa. We don't want the owners to have full custody over Liverpool FC. They know nothing about this club, whereas the DIC are Liverpool fanatics who will move the club forward and do anything to make this football club great once again. These American owners aren't doing anything good.

Posted 19:08 10th March 2008
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