Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Liverpool gets new £320m offer from billionaire Lim


Peter Lim, a Singapore billionaire, is offering £320m in cash for Liverpool football club and its liabilities.
The offer trumps the £300m offered by New England Sports Ventures - which was accepted last week by Liverpool's chairman, Martin Broughton.
BBC business editor Robert Peston says Mr Lim is also offering to provide £40m in cash to buy players.
Liverpool's board will find it difficult to ignore the offer, raising more uncertainty about the club's fate.
The offer coincided with the start of a case in London's High Court to resolve a power struggle on Liverpool's board of directors.
'Arrogance'
Royal Bank of Scotland, which holds the bulk of Liverpool's debts, is seeking a court order preventing the club's co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, from removing two board members, including Mr Broughton.
Philip Snowdon QC, for RBS, told the court that Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett were in "breach of contract" and guilty of "breath-taking arrogance".
Mr Lim, whose previous bid for Liverpool was rejected in favour of New England's, has an estimated net worth of $1.6bn (£1bn), according to Forbes magazine.
He made his fortune in fashion, logistics and agri-business.
His interest in English football stems from his ownership of several Manchester United themed bars in Asia - which have persuaded him that there is huge global potential for making money from top-flight English football.
There have been suggestions that he intends to sell the Manchester United bars if he secures control of arch-rival Liverpool.
What may excite Liverpool fans about the offer is that Mr Lim is promising to hand manager Roy Hodgson £40m to buy players in January's transfer window, says our business editor.

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