LONDON // A British judge ruled against Liverpool's owners today in a decision that brings the debt-ridden Premier League club a step closer to being sold to the owners of the Boston Red Sox.
High Court Judge Christopher Floyd ruled that American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr do not have the power to oust the boardroom rivals who sanctioned the sale. The board agreed last week, against the wishes of Hicks and Gillett, to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures for £300 million (Dh1.74bn).
The current owners claim the price undervalues the club and Liverpool should consider other offers. The judge, who heard five hours of court arguments in the case Tuesday, ruled that Hicks and Gillett have "no absolute right to veto a sale". He said the board should meet later today to approve the sale to the Boston group, headed by financier John Henry, ahead of Friday's deadline to repay the club's debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Hicks and Gillett would appeal. Had the sale been blocked, Liverpool could have fallen into financial administration, a form of bankruptcy protection that would have incurred a nine-point penalty for the club from the Premier League. Liverpool, who won the last of its 18 English league titles in 1990, are off to their worst start to a season since 1953 and are mired in the relegation zone.
Lawyers for Hicks and Gillett told the court yesterday the duo were excluded from parts of the sale process and there were other more lucrative offers for the 18-time English champions that should be considered. Singapore businessman Peter Lim, whose first bid was turned down last week in favor of the Boston offer, announced Tuesday he was raising his offer to £320m, with an additional £40m to buy new players.
It was also revealed yesterday that American hedge fund Mill Financial has put in a bid that also pledges to wipe out the club's debts and would provide up to £100m to fund a new stadium. Mill Financial technically controls Gillett's 50 per cent stake after he defaulted on the loan used by Gillett to fund his part of the leveraged takeover in 2007. It is the owners' inability to repay around £285m of debt that led RBS to instigate a sale process in April and revamp the board to ensure the two no longer had a majority.
The specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
