Northern football Correspondent
Hitting back: George Gillett (left) and Tom Hicks are not leaving Liverpool quietlyJohn W Henry swept into London last night to seal his £300million deal to buy Liverpool — only to be pitched into a £1billion legal battle with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Henry joined the English members of the club’s board at a meeting in the City to hurry through the takeover. It came after the High Court ruled that Hicks and Gillett had breached the terms of their financing with the Royal Bank of Scotland by seeking to change the board last week.
But in a peculiar twist just before 10pm, Gillett and Hicks released a statement claiming a Texas State District Court ‘has granted a temporary restraining order’ preventing the board from selling the club to Henry, with a hearing set for October 25.
They also revealed their intention to sue the three Liverpool board members, chairman Martin Broughton, chief executive Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre, the bank controlling the club’s debt and Henry’s company, New England Sports Ventures, for a total of $1.6billion (£1bn) in damages.
The duo called the attempt to sell the club to NESV an ‘epic swindle’ and a ‘grand conspiracy’ and claimed the offer was ‘hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value’.
Late last night, Liverpool put out a statement saying they feel the restraining order has no jurisdiction following their victory in the High Court.
However, it will take time to resolve the issue. The club’s lawyers will now have to go back through the High Court and the district court in Texas to prove that the order is invalid.
The restraining order was served at 8.25pm last night, five minutes before the board meeting was due to start, and was then followed by the Americans making a conference call to confirm their actions.
Delirium: Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton celebrates with fans outside the High CourtThe behaviour mirrored that of last Tuesday, when Hicks and Gillett attempted to disolve the Liverpool board minutes before a crucial board meeting to discuss NESV’s proposed takeover.
After the meeting came to a close at around midnight, a Liverpool spokesman confirmed it was likely to reconvene this morning.
Earlier, it was a huge surprise when Henry, owner of NESV and the Boston Red Sox, arrived to join the gathering shortly before 8pm.
As the American walked into the offices of Liverpool’s solicitors, Slaughter and May, he was asked how he was feeling and, giving a thumbs-up, said he was ‘very confident’.
Here's Johnny: Henry jetted into London to appear at a Liverpool board meetingHenry had not been in London for the conclusion of yesterday morning’s court case, contributing only a brief Twitter message to congratulate Broughton, Purslow and Ayre on winning the case, along with the club’s creditors RBS.
The day of drama started with High Court judge Mr Justice Floyd granting RBS an injunction to prevent Hicks and Gillett from throwing Broughton, Purslow and Ayre off the board.
VIDEO: Board and fans react to the High Court verdict...
The American co-owners had been expected to contribute via a conference call as the three English directors attempted to rubber-stamp an agreement reached with Henry’s NESV Group last week.
Asian businessman Peter Lim’s offer of £360m for the club now appears to be doomed.
source :dailymail
