Texas court halts sale of Dippers

[Marvin]

Interesting dilemma.

Perhaps they will argue that H&G are in breach of contract, as you say, and therefore can be enjoined from enforcing the Texas restraining order.

There's no argument that I can see that would allow Hicks and Gillett to argue that the Texas order has any power in England.

I do find it extraordinary that the Texas court would be prepared to accept jurisdiction, even on an interim basis.

The Texas order does have no power over assets in England but it will, I imagine, have power over US assets and therein lies the rub. NESV and RBS in particular would not want to risk breaching it as they have substantial US assets that would be at risk.

I don't see the order lasting, one way or the other, and I think H&G will know that... I can only see this as a delaying tactic whilst the Mill Financial share sale is completed and the RBS loan agreement is repaid.

I agree with you it is extraordinary - I don't think ANYONE saw this coming yesterday.

There's no Mill Financial deal with Hicks according to latest reports

Smoke, mirrors and delaying tactics

 

[The Fixer]

12.58pm: Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks remains in control of his share of the club and has not sold out to Mill Financial, Press Association Sport reports.

Reports this morning suggested the hedge fund, a branch of Washington-based Springfield Financial, had acquired the Texan's 50% share having already taken ownership of his fellow co-owner George Gillett's half.
However, a UK-based spokesman for Tom Hicks told Press Association Sport Mill Financial had not acquired Hicks' shares.<br /><br />-- Thu Oct 14, 2010 1:56 pm --<br /><br />The restraint order will be lifted and the sale done.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

12.58pm: Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks remains in control of his share of the club and has not sold out to Mill Financial, Press Association Sport reports.

Reports this morning suggested the hedge fund, a branch of Washington-based Springfield Financial, had acquired the Texan's 50% share having already taken ownership of his fellow co-owner George Gillett's half.
However, a UK-based spokesman for Tom Hicks told Press Association Sport Mill Financial had not acquired Hicks' shares.

Doesn't mean they're not acting for him though.

 

[whipper]

Liverpool have already appointed lawyers in Dallas this morning to file a counter claim in the Dallas court as soon as business begins there, moving to have the restraining order removed.
They have also made a request as a matter of urgency for a lifting in the High Court in London to obtain an injunction overturning the lawsuit in the UK too.
Their case will revolve around jurisdiction. Legal experts are lining up to suggest that the case Hicks filed yesterday is flimsy, and the question of the jurisdiction of the Texas court over proceedings that have already been considered by the High Court in London is key to dismissing it.
They will make a strong legal argument that the case should not be heard in Texas or anywhere else in the US.
They will also present evidence that Hicks and Gillett have offered written undertakings in contracts signed with the RBS that ensures the ‘legal forum’ of any dispute will be held in the English courts. That effectively means they can not sue in the US.
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.
Yesterday, Broughton and RBS won a ruling in the High Court allowing them to proceed with the sale, and Hicks was warned that it would be “inappropriate” to appeal.
If, as seems likely, the TRO is lifted this afternoon when the Texas District Court sits, then Broughton will act quickly to see the sale through to New England Sports Ventures, the owners of the Boston Red Sox.

 

[Ricster]

The Mickeys are now bombarding Mill Financial with this email...

Dear Mill Financial,

Reports are reaching us in the UK this morning that you are about to take over the shares of George Gillett and Tom Hicks, thus owning Liverpool Football Club.

Just to ensure you are aware of our position, you are not welcome in any way, shape or form. You have shown us what sort of company you are by initially lending money to George Gillett, who is nothing more than an asset stripping parasite.

This is the sort of association you have, and the sort of association Liverpool fans have with you.

If you get involved with our club, we will take action against you at every turn. Hedge funds are not welcome in any walk of life; they most certainly are not in football. There has been an exhaustive, and now ongoing legal process, to determine who the best bidder for Liverpool Football Club is. And it is not Mill Financial.

We will target every one of your business interests, and specifically Liverpool Football Club, if your attempts to take control of the club are successful.

Mill Financial are not, and will never be fit and proper owners. Your association with George Gillett and now Tom Hicks means that by default.

Take your hedge funds back to Wall Street, where they belong, and get away from our football club.

KOP FAITHFUL

Well, I think that should do the job ;-)

Cant the Liverpool fans see that this wont help, and actually by writing this they are digging their own grave? I honestly think the start of Liverpool's demise is happening right before our eyes.

Can you imagine English football without Liverpool? As much as it might sound funny, it really isn't. We're all football fans at the end of the day, and if a stripping down of assets at Anfield is going to happen it'll be a very sad day for English football.

 

[The Fixer]

12.58pm: Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks remains in control of his share of the club and has not sold out to Mill Financial, Press Association Sport reports.

Reports this morning suggested the hedge fund, a branch of Washington-based Springfield Financial, had acquired the Texan's 50% share having already taken ownership of his fellow co-owner George Gillett's half.
However, a UK-based spokesman for Tom Hicks told Press Association Sport Mill Financial had not acquired Hicks' shares.

Doesn't mean they're not acting for him though.

I think its all just delaying tactics mate, i think mill was all bollocks.

What is quite striking is how the RBS and dipper board are very much in bed together... RBS almost looking after dipperpool as much as their own interests... i wobder if they would have done the same if say this was pompey and not a 'football institution'??

 

[coleridge]

Doesn't mean they're not acting for him though.

I think its all just delaying tactics mate, i think mill was all bollocks.

What is quite striking is how the RBS and dipper board are very much in bed together... RBS almost looking after dipperpool as much as their own interests... i wobder if they would have done the same if say this was pompey and not a 'football institution'??

I think you're being paranoid. RBS are a bank and so are seminally just in it for themselves, not Liverpool, the tax payer or the interests of justice.

As for this asset stripping business, once a few decent players are sold, what's left to strip [ a million or two for the training ground - whippedy whoo]? I do wonder why this Henry chap is bothering at all, except to sell on for a higher price. Nothing else makes any sense to me.

 

[M18CTID]

The Mickeys are now bombarding Mill Financial with this email...



Well, I think that should do the job ;-)

Cant the Liverpool fans see that this wont help, and actually by writing this they are digging their own grave? I honestly think the start of Liverpool's demise is happening right before our eyes.

Can you imagine English football without Liverpool? As much as it might sound funny, it really isn't. We're all football fans at the end of the day, and if a stripping down of assets at Anfield is going to happen it'll be a very sad day for English football.

I don't see any point in wanting any club to go bust. However, seeing them taken down a few pegs and enduring several years of turmoil would be a nice sight.

IMO when it comes to being a football fan, you reap what you sow. For years fans of clubs up and down the country have taken great delight in seeing City lurch from one crisis to another on and off the pitch - very few fans had any sympathy for us (and why should they?), so I don't see why I should now be extending the hand of sympathy to Liverpool or any other club for that matter.

I don't tend to forget things too easily and although it was 14 years ago, the image of Liverpool fans to a man (and woman) in the away section of the North Stand at Maine Road splitting their sides laughing when our relegation was confirmed after the final game of the 1995-96 season will forever be etched in my memory. And while it's sad that people can come in and make a pig's ear of running an established football club, they're hardly alone in having to suffer from having shit owners, and their trophy-laden history doesn't make them any more of a special case than the likes of Leeds and Portsmouth. In short, they can go and get fucked for me.

 

[lloydie]

The Mickeys are now bombarding Mill Financial with this email...



Well, I think that should do the job ;-)

Cant the Liverpool fans see that this wont help, and actually by writing this they are digging their own grave? I honestly think the start of Liverpool's demise is happening right before our eyes.

Can you imagine English football without Liverpool? As much as it might sound funny, it really isn't. We're all football fans at the end of the day, and if a stripping down of assets at Anfield is going to happen it'll be a very sad day for English football.

LFC wont fold, they'll not be force anymore but so what?
Many a club has undergone difficulties because of financial mismanagement by the owners before, why should they be treated as a special case?

 

[Cambridgeblue]

Doesn't mean they're not acting for him though.

I think its all just delaying tactics mate, i think mill was all bollocks.

What is quite striking is how the RBS and dipper board are very much in bed together... RBS almost looking after dipperpool as much as their own interests... i wobder if they would have done the same if say this was pompey and not a 'football institution'??

As I said in my report thread yesterday it was interesting that counsel for RBS consistenly talked about a sale "in the best interests of stakeholders" rather than creditors/shareholders.