引用第6樓國球旗於2010-10-05 19:20發表的“”:
我想知，利記有無可能會好似樸茅咁樣要扣分 [表情]
Liverpool and Administration: Expert Analysis of Financial Crisis at AnfieldCOS’s financial expert takes a closer look at just how much danger there is of the Anfield giants being forced into administration and what the club can do about eliminating Hicks and Gillett and the debt they have forced upon the Merseyside club.
Liverpool’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Northampton was arguably the worst result in their 128-year history.
The 1-2 home defeat to Blackpool has left them in the bottom three and they are now in the midst of their worst start to a season since 1953-54 which, incidentally, was the last time the Reds were relegated.
And, although they’re only seven games in to the current campaign, relegation could be a very real fear once more as the shambolic way that the club has been run since Geroge Gillet and Tom Hicks took control means that the club now face a very real threat of administration and the dreaded nine-point deduction.
But things may soon get even worse for the Anfield outfit unless lawyers can find a way for RBS to take control of the club whist simultaneously avoiding administration.
This is a scenario that representatives of both Liverpool FC and RBS – the club’s main creditors – are working tirelessly to prevent but time is running out for all concerned as the bank must make a decision on whether or not they want to take control of the club by Friday October 15th.
And, given the perceived lack of serious investors waiting in the wings coupled with Tom Hicks’ zealous desire to become the club’s sole owner, it appears that the bank are going to have no real choice in the matter.
But does a take-over by the bank automatically result in the club entering administration?
Apparently not according to Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s managing director, who asserts that administration is not on the agenda as the club is still operating as a completely solvent, healthy business with all banking facilities and associated credit lines still available to it.
Purslow said: “Liverpool Football Club is a very healthy business. We have cash, we are solvent, we have banking facilities which last beyond the end of next season and we are heavily scrutinised by the Premier League.”
He added: “To achieve our Uefa license we went through that process and they were very happy with what they saw – so I cannot conceive of a situation where Liverpool Football Club could go into administration.”
Furthermore: “Liverpool Football Club is not going bust. We have an extremely healthy business with record revenues and we are highly profitable.”
Which are all salient points and all very bullish in the face of an unprecedented adversity, but the decision on whether or not the club enters administration is not in Purslow’s hands, it’s in the hands of the clubs creditors, namely RBS and also Wachovia, providers of around 25 per cent of the bank debt.
But before we look at whether or not one of England’s footballing super powers could actually suffer the ignominy of administration, it’s worth looking at what administration actually means, beyond a nine point deduction.
In the world of business, administrators are called in to a failing business to negotiate settlement figures with creditors in the hope of turning things around to make that company profitable again.
This is usually accomplished via a ‘Company Voluntary Agreement’ whereby the administrators and creditors agree on a settlement figure to pay off any debt.
If the creditors and insolvency practitioners can’t agree then the company will go into ‘administrative receivership’, which is effectively the practice of trying to find a buyer for the business.
The proceeds of any sale will then go to paying off the creditors, with preferential creditors such as the Inland Revenue getting paid back first.
But this causes complications when football clubs enter administration as Football League rules state that football clubs must pay their ‘football creditors’ – i.e. players or other football clubs they owe money to – in full in order to remain in the league.
This in turn causes conflict when trying to establish exactly who the priority creditors are as, in theory, this would always be the Inland Revenue, but if a club needs to pay it’s football related debts in order to continue as a going concern then this should become the priority!
Regardless of this complication, if no buyer can be found for the business then it is asset stripped and any funds raised go to pay off the preferential creditors – in the case of a football club this could mean anything from selling players to selling the ground.
So, having looked at the facts surrounding administration, it would appear that Purslow’s comments do hold some weight and that Liverpool will not be entering administration.
One reason for this is that Liverpool is not a ‘failing business’. Although results on the pitch have lurched from disappointing to diabolical, the club is still commercially successful and actually reported record revenues in July of this year.
This is something that Purslow has been keen to point out, saying: “When we sell the business [the] debt will be reduced or go away which will make us the most profitable club in the Premier League.”
And, whilst bringing to mind a saying about your auntie being your uncle if certain circumstances are correct, this is actually a very good point and is just one reason why Liverpool will not enter administration.
Another reason is that the club is not yet in a position whereby it is unable to meet repayments to it’s creditors, be that RBS, the Inland Revenue, other football clubs or it’s own employees.
This means that should RBS take control of the club then the only debt that will need repaying is the £237 million in bank loans – a debt serviced by RBS!
In all likelihood, if RBS were to take control of the club then they would be looking to pass the club on to a new owner straight away – for a price way below the £600 million quoted by Tom Hicks and George Gillett!
In order for the current owners to walk away with a profit they would need a buyer to come in with an offer in the region of £600 million. If a buyer were to come in with £420 million this would mean that Gillett and Hicks would walk away having recouped the investment they put into Kop Holdings via their Cayman Islands vehicle.
But, if any potential buyers were to wait until after the October 15th deadline then it’s likely that they would be able to take control of the club for a figure somewhere in the region of just £280 million. And, before you get out the interest rate calculator, that figure includes the £40million in penalty fees!
This would explain why George Gillett is so desperate to hold onto the club and would also explain why, after an initial flurry of interest, there are currently no parties publicly interested in buying it!
So, whilst it looks inevitable that RBS will assume control of Liverpool Football Club on October 15th, it looks highly unlikely that this will result in the club entering administration.分析文章一大篇，有興趣就睇晒佢，無興趣就剩係睇最後一句……
