Most Liverpool fans will be extremely happy, given that it takes control out of the hands of the Yankee Duo Dandy, and gives them potential new owners with deep, deep pockets. To be brutally honest, I’m sure most fans don’t care whose Arab billions are poured into the club, so long as it is billions. The recent Manchester City acquisition has only gone the salivate their thirst for such money that much further. That my friends is a sad indictment on the state of British football. (Now’s not the time to discuss such things, a another time and place.)

However, as most things connected with Liverpool Football Club in recent months, nothing is as straightforward as it would seem. Talks are at best in their very early stages. An agreed price would still have to be reached, and given that Tom Hicks’ valuation of £600M is still seen in some quarters as unrealistic, a deal would not materilaise overnight.

Furthermore, George Gillett and Rick Parry seem to be sidelined from the deal and the leakage of information may be an attempt to start a bidding war.

Just when you thought it could not get worse at Anfield …

Their first hurdle is to renogitiate their loan which runs out at the end of January 2009. RBS and Waichovia, both of whom have seen their fair share of troubles in 2008, may grant them a six month option. However, that will only serve to be a stay of execution. They remain on a collisson course with destiny and that would manifest itself in a number of ways.

Firstly and the ideal solution is to find a rich sugar daddy, but the asking price of £600m fora club that needs to build its own stadium will put off most suitors. Secondly, they will eventually have to shift all the debt burden onto the club itself, something they insisted would never happen when they first took over. Thirdly sell assets to cover their repayments, with a number of star players being sold.

The future looks far from rosy for the American duo or for that matter the club itself. As I have said before, Sheikh al Maktoum does not need to buy a football club. So he’s not going to pay over the odds for one.  However, the Liverpool yankee duo certainly need to sell … will the pressure now tell on them.

The high asking price and financial downturn in Dubai have persuaded the family of Sheikh Al-Maktoum to pull the plug on the deal that Amanda Staveley, who brokered the Abu Dhabi takeover at Manchester City, has been mediating.

The lack of any realistic buyer means the Royal Bank of Scotland and American bank Wachovia are even less likely to force owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sell the club on or before January 25, when their £350m refinancing deal runs out, and will therefore agree to the July extension allowed for in the original deal.

The Dubai royals had tried to buy Liverpool before the American pair in December 2006.

They renewed their interest a year later when the Americans quoted them a £1billion price tag.

The Al-Maktoums indicated they would pay around £500m, but the reluctance of the Americans to sell to them, combined with the economic climate, has dashed their enthusiasm.

Source: Daily Mail

(Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Although the Liverpool owners denied yesterday that Merrill Lynch has been engaged, The Times understands that auditors looked at Liverpool’s books last week with a view to finding a buyer. So far, the search appears to be unsuccessful.

Sheikh Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, has maintained a longstanding interest in acquiring Liverpool but has balked at the price tag set by the American pair, which is upwards of £550 million.

The owners admitted last month that plans for a new stadium in Stanley Park have been put on hold indefinitely. RBS is bracing itself for a campaign of protest by the Spirit of Shankly, a Liverpool supporters’ union.

An offer from Dubai of £500million has been on the table for many months, but there has been minimal contact between the Sheikh’s representative, Amanda Staveley, and the American camp over the past few months.

Rumours of interest from Robert Kraft have swirled around Anfield in the past few weeks but it is not believed that the owner of the New England Patriots American football team is a viable bidder for Liverpool.

Source: The Times

The Valley club’s efforts to play down the deal last night by insisting there is “no certainty” that the “indicative” bid will become a formal offer will not restrain unbridled excitement in south-east London. The involvement of Sheikh Hamdan Al-Maktoum, son of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, through his Zabeel Investments vehicle would make the ascendancy of a club that dropped out of the Premier League with only 34 points in 2007 almost a certainty.

The Valley, home of Charlton Athletic Football Club. Photograph: Tony Marshall/Empics/PA

Their attention then turned to Charlton. Superficially there would seem to be few motives for taking over a club who lie only 14th in the Championship today. But there was an influential link with Liverpool in that Rothschilds, the investment bank, had represented the five-times European champions and also worked for Charlton.

The Valley club have been scouring the market for fresh investment in recent months but few could have considered that the Dubai ruling caste would be interested in a Championship club. One close observer of Dubai’s football negotiations expressed surprise at the deal, saying: “They usually go for the front of the grid.”

However another explained that as Gulf potentates go, Dubai is the junior partner to Abu Dhabi and the investment by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Manchester City has shifted Premier League politics. The Charlton purchase may have been motivated by a desire not to be seen to “outdo” Abu Dhabi United Group by taking over England’s most decorated club.

Any notion that Liverpool might still fall into Dubai’s hands appears misguided since there would also be the further complication of Premier League and Football Association ownership rules. A single owner may not purchase two clubs in the same competition and the prospect of promotion as well as the chance of them being drawn against each other in a cup competition has complicated the issue. “Everything in Dubai goes back to the royal family,” as one insider with knowledge of the deal stated.

A statement from Charlton’s board said: “In spite of being approached by various English football clubs as well as a number of well-known clubs in Europe and South America, Zabeel Investments believes Charlton is the right club for them.”

Amid a fire-sale of Premier League clubs Charlton have undoubtedly benefited from the effects of their good husbandry in recent years. With their Premier League parachute payments expiring at the end of last season, the board kept a tight rein on spending.

The directors even loaned the club almost £4m in interim funding in an effort to stabilise its finances in straitened times. In contrast to the £100m-plus borrowings of many top-flight clubs, Charlton’s debts are believed to have been restricted to seven figures with the sales of players such as the £16m striker, Darren Bent, to Tottenham.

“We feel now is the right time to make a strategic, long-term investment in Charlton and get CAFC back to the English Premier League where they belong,” said Zabeel Investments’ executive chairman Mohammed Al-Hashimi.

“The passion of the fans at Charlton, the heritage of the club and the unique status it enjoys in the community make it an exciting proposition for us.”

Source: The Guardian

The oil-rich Arab leader of Dubai has ditched DIC – the investment arm of his government – as the buy-out company he will use if he gets the chance to purchase the Anfield club from Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Instead, he will dip into his own wealth to get his hands on the Premier League outfit, with insiders suggesting that will allow him to invest far more money into Liverpool.

DIC’s charter states the government company must “maximise long-term shareholder value”, which in effect means it should turn over a big profit as soon as possible.

But the current financial climate wouldn’t allow that with Liverpool, and instead the Arab billionaire is ready to sink his own money into the club to build a new stadium and invest heavily in the team.

Sheikh Mohammed wants to rival the Abu Dhabi owners of Manchester City, and now sees Liverpool less in terms of a pure investment. But despite being among the wealthiest men in the world, he still refuses to pay over the odds to the Americans.

The Mirror understands that Hicks and Gillett are prepared to sell, but only at £300million above the Arab’s valuation of around £450million.

Sheikh Mohammed’s advisors though, feel that the Americans are in deep trouble because of the global credit crunch, and will be forced to sell unless there is a swift economic upturn.

Source: The Mirror

Unfortunately, there is no quick or easy answers to the whole DIC-Liverpool saga. Whilst we here at thedubailife have our ear to the ground, even we cannot see an end to this long-running affair until the relevant parties are willing to compromise.

Does DIC Need To Buy Liverpool?

Lets get something quite clear from the start, DIC DO NOT NEED TO BUY LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB! OWNING FOOTBALL CLUBS IN THE UK IS NOT A PROFITABLE BUSINESS! That stark reality needs to be realized for all concerned, Liverpool fans and Liverpool’s owners. DIC were derided and eventually rejected by Liverpool’s board because they had the temerity to conduct their negotiations from a business point of view. Ironically, the current owners have done nothing but conduct theirs in a similar vein. Owning football clubs is not easy. Roman Ambramovich has ploughed billions into Chelsea and for what return? Actually they’ve made huge losses. Likewise the Glazer’s will make very little profit after all their debts have been fully paid off. THERFORE DIC DO NOT NEED TO BUY LIVERPOOL FC.

Why are DIC interested then?

Liverpool is still perhaps one of the best supported clubs in the world. They already have the history that City or Chelsea would dearly love, the potential to sell and fill stadia that only the likes of Real/United/Barcelona could probably match. That potential makes them one of the most sought after lucrative clubs still left in England. It is that potential that has still allowed DIC to keep a vested interest and not pursue other clubs such as Newcastle or Aston Villa.

Why Won’t Hicks/Gillette Sell?

The bottom line is purely financial. They have not received an offer from DIC that would allow themselves to maximize their return. In the current climate they are seeking to offload the club for a value of what would appear to be more than £500m.

What Happens Next?

The ,000 question. Nothing happens. DIC do not need to buy and Hick and Gillette are desperate to sell at an over inflated price. The two do not at this moment in time seem compatible. However, it would seem that the American duo are fast running out of options and their belief that DIC/Dubai would buy at any cost is fast disappearing. DIC meanwhile are happy to play the long game. Since they were told by the club that they were interested in inviting Gillette to make a bid they have kept m ore than a vested interest. There has been continued dialogue between DIC and the club for almost 12 months and although they have failed to reach an agreement DIC/Dubai continues to wait in the wings hoping that the global conditions will drive Gillette and Hicks to sell.

Indeed, after the fiasco of refinancing their loan and debt to buy Liverpool in January 2008, they have now failed to meet the target of starting work on a stadium, which continues to spiral. Their next objective is to refinance the loan once more for another 12 month period in January 2009. That is by no means uncertain, given that they could put the entire debt onto the club then we could have to wait a couple of more years before Hicks and Gillette finally are forced out.

By then it could be too late and DIC/Dubai may have just gone elsewhere.

We have had a lot more visitors to our site and a lot more people sending their feelings to DIC via our online form found here. It would be fair to say that we are at the moment struggling to put absolutely everything we see about DIC and Liverpool on the site, it’s Ramadan and we’re hungry. However we will try and bring you anything we hear as soon as we can, I do feel this will drag on a while and there is nothing imminent but I could be wrong let’s hope so.

We have a list of select articles from the past over on this page for those who want to read up a little on DIC and the Liverpool situation. So I guess the message is keep coming back for more news or sign up to the blog updates and you will get any news straight to your inbox (but remember not all our posts will be about Liverpool, most will be about Dubai).

And a message to all those Liverpool fans that have visited our site and sent their views to DIC , A big Thank You. We will be passing on all the comments in due course.

Anyone from DIC reading this contact us, talk to us, email us at buylfc@thedubailife.com (this email is for DIC only not for Liverpool fans).

With the global banking crisis leaving Liverpool’s American owners unable to finance plans for a new stadium in Stanley Park, the club are in danger of treading water.

Cash flow is not a concern for Dubai International Capital, one of Sheikh Mohammed’s investment arms, who are now optimistic that this renewed bid will be accepted.

A report in this morning’s Sun claims the new offer would clear the club’s debt and see Hicks and Gillett both walk away with a profit of £75 million.

Manchester City’s takeover by the Abu Dhabi United group makes the situation of Liverpool’s ownership all the more critical.

With such financial muscle, City can now realistically expect to mount a serious challenge for one of four Champions League places.

Liverpool and Arsenal are most at risk, but the impact of failure to qualify for the Champions League would be much greater at Anfield, where matchday revenues are dwarfed by those raised at the larger and more corporate-friendly Emirates Stadium.

It is estimated Arsenal generate £50 million more than Liverpool every year simply through this means, making the need to leave Anfield all the more pressing.

When they bought the club in 2007, Hicks and Gillett promised work on the new stadium would begin almost immediately.

But with annual interest payments of £30 million and the current financial climate as it is, there are fears on Merseyside that the Texan pair are simply incapable of fulfilling their pledges.

Source: The Telegraph