Hicks To Cash His Soccer Chips

U.S. private equity and sports investor Tom Hicks and business partner George Gillett have confirmed that the appointment of a new chairman at Liverpool FC signals their intention to sell the debt-ridden soccer club.

British Airways boss Martin Broughton, who has been appointed to oversee the sale of the Anfield club, told BBC Sport that the Americans recognise a complete sale is the right thing to do at this point.

“Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding and exciting experience for us and our families,” Hicks and Gillett said in a statement.

“Having grown the club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the club to owners committed to take the club through its next level of growth and development,” they explained.

Hicks and Gillett have had a hard time at Liverpool since buying the club for £238 million in March 2007. Fans are upset that funding the highly leveraged buyout has left manager Rafael Benitez short of money for team building.

“Liverpool will be the most profitable investment I’ve ever made,” Hicks told Wall Street Journal. But the pressure of repaying a £237 million debt to Royal Bank of Scotland in the fall looks to have been enough to squeeze him out.

“It’s been the most rewarding in so many ways and the most painful in so many ways. When you feel fans turn against you it is very frustrating,” he said.

In October, hundreds of Liverpool fans staged a protest march against the owners ahead of their Premier League clash against Manchester United, another club where American owners are at odds with fans over the cost of servicing their leveraged buyout.

Apart from that, Hicks and Gillett spent much of their time at Liverpool at odds with each other. In 2008 Gillett said the partnership had become “unworkable.” Hicks blocked his efforts to sell his 50 percent stake to Dubai International Capital.

Hicks may be right about Liverpool being his best investment if it fetches the £800 million ($1.24 billion) he’s hoping for, but potential buyers will be aware that’s still short of the total investment required.

The team is in serious danger of missing out on qualifying for next season’s European Champions League by failing to finish in the top four in the Premier League. Either Manchester City or Tottenham Hotspur looks booked for the fourth slot behind Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The major European club competition is a vital source of income for a club like Liverpool, and any buyer will be aware that next season the club will have to settle for the shallower revenue streams produced by the less important European competitions.

Benitez will need a substantial kitty to buy new players capable of returning Liverpool to the top four of the Premier League next season. The new owners will also need to find at least part of the £375 million needed for the proposed building of a new 72,000-seat stadium in Liverpool’s Stanley Park.

Selling Liverpool will end Hicks’ interest in the sports industry. A year ago his Hicks Sports Group put the franchises for the Texas Rangers baseball club and Dallas Stars hockey team up for sale after defaulting on $540 million of debt.