Liverpool Football Club have acquired the services of Dallas based lawyers to help overturn Tom Hicks’ injunction against the club’s sale as quickly as possible.
At the 11th hour last night, just as Liverpool’s board were about to start concluding the sale to New England Sports Ventures, Hicks won the injunction, seeking $1.6billion in damages from the board and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Hicks claims that the board and bank did not consider higher offers, and NESV’s £300million offer massively undervalues the club.
Liverpool hope lawyers can convince the court in Texas that the case is not worthy of even being heard, with its date set for October 25th.
The Mirror reports:
The judge who granted the TRO has already expressed his unease with jurisdiction over the case, and after reviewing documents, he made clear that the claims made by Hicks were not backed by any substantial evidence.
This suggests Judge Jim Jordan, who will be the first to consider Liverpool’s move to strike the TRO, could well reverse his decision as soon as the case is heard. If not, then it will be moved to a higher United States State Court, which would be expected to respect the decision of the High Court.
The 8 hour time difference between the UK and Texas could prove a stumbling block in today’s proceedings.
But Reds chairman Martin Broughton, working 24 hour days at the moment, is confident a legal challenge can be made.
He told fans, “They are trying every trick in the book, but keep the faith, we are trying to overturn this and we always remain confident.”
UPDATE: Liverpool and the Royal Bank of Scotland will return to the High Court in London this afternoon to try and overturn Tom Hicks’ injunction preventing the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures. The hearing is set for 2pm.
Watch this space.