Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow has told the Spirit of Shankly supporters union he is currently in talks with five or six potential investors over a £100m input into the football club.
Purslow, speaking at a meeting with 12 union members last month, explained “The £100 million investment will be made by the issuance of new shares, and will not go towards anything else other than paying down the debt, reducing it to £137 million. This new investment will also mean a dilution of the current ownership.”
The reduction of the club’s debt, which currently stands at £247m, Purslow explained is a requirement from the banks in order to secure a longer term loan than the 12 month restructuring which was agreed last summer. “This is a requirement from our bankers and will allow us to look at a more flexible and longer term refinancing with our bankers when this investment is brought in. Ideally we would like a three or four year refinancing deal rather than the shorter ones we have had recently.”
Purslow added he aims to make the club “self-sufficient” and “live within our means”.
In an interesting exchange, the minutes from the meeting between SOS and Purslow, which are normally agreed by the two parties before being issued, were not agreed by both sides and instead SOS have released their minutes and Purslow’s interpretation of the meeting.
SOS claim Purslow told them RBS are annoyed and unhappy with Hicks and Gillett and they want a change of ownership and said that “LFC is for sale. It will be sold. The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it. The problems on the pitch at the minute aren’t the fault of the owners. It is not simple enough to say that new owners will guarantee results on the pitch.”
SOS also write in their minutes that Purslow told of Tom Hicks and George Gillett’s personal investment into the club was £15-20m each season for the first few years, but that they now have no money to invest, that they have spent £130 million, and cannot borrow further.
SOS commented on the overall meeting saying “We feel that the major issue to come out of the meeting is the clear message that the owners time at the Club is more, not less likely, to come to an end soon.”
