Tom Hicks may win battle over majority control of Liverpool FC

Mar 7 2008

TOM HICKS was today edging closer to taking majority control of Liverpool.

DIC has indicated it may now be willing to take a 49% stake by buying out all but 1% of George Gillett's shares.

The remaining 1% could then be bought by Hicks, leaving him as the majority shareholder - a scenario one Anfield figure has described as "a potential nightmare".

It is believed DIC has not dropped its desire to buy the club outright in the future but for the time being may be ready to enter into a deal which would see Hicks investment increase.

The situation is further complicated by the fact Liverpool's current co-owners are speaking to DIC separately and even though Hicks is now believed to have indicated he will not block DIC in their bid to take a minority stake, the Dubai consortium would still have to convince Gillett to accept its offer.

Gillett is still to agree to sell though and having fallen out so dramatically with Hicks it remains questionable whether he would be willing to do any deal with him.

The Hicks camp remain insistent that although they are aware DIC has indicated a change of stance, they have not yet received any formal notification from them regarding this.

But the two parties could meet in Dubai next week.

The current situation will further dismay and confuse Liverpool fans who are seeing a complex deal for the future of their club being played out via the media on an almost hourly basis.

In a bid to explain what is going on, Paul Lunt, a litigation partner at Liverpool law firm Brabners who specialises in shareholders rights, gave his verdict on the current situation.

He said: "The impasse that has arisen in the battle for ownership of Liverpool Football Club highlights the unattractiveness of being a minority shareholder.

"Tom Hicks and DIC have been in talks about the future ownership and control of Liverpool Football Club, and it seems both are willing to consider the possibility of some future role for the other.

"The sticking point seems to be the fact that neither party is willing to accept a role as a minority shareholder; each of them will only consider a controlling stake.

"This is not surprising. The strict rights of a shareholder holding less than 50% of the shares in a private limited company are generally fairly limited.

"For example, there is no automatic right to a seat on the board, no right to demand a day-to-day role in the running of the business and only limited rights to see the details of the financial position of the business.

"However, the issue between Mr Hicks and DIC is not necessarily just about the amount of shares that DIC want to acquire.

"The real issue is likely to be one of decision making power and the degree of involvement in the running of the business.

"If DIC and Mr Hicks really are considering some form of co-ownership, in practice it would be inconceivable that they would do that without also agreeing enhanced rights for each party - rights that are over and above those that the law generally provides a minority shareholder."

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Javier Mascherano is a doubt for the  game against Newcastle tomorrow having picked up a dead leg in the4-0 win over West Ham.