引用第108樓reve於2010-10-13 18:03發表的“”:
It is unclear at present whether Hicks and Gillett will appeal against the decision.
More to follow [表情] [表情]
Liverpool takeover to go ahead as owners lose caseBy ESPNsoccernet staff
October 13, 2010
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=831953&sec=england&cc=4716The High Court has ruled in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland and against Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, meaning the takeover agreed by the board with New England Sports Ventures (NESV) can go through as planned.
Hicks and Gillett have been denied the right to appeal.Liverpool supporters will be jubilant after Mr Justice Floyd rejected applications by the co-owners for an injunction to halt sale negotiations until they had attended a board meeting and there be further discussions over any sale agreement.
"I am not prepared to grant any relief," he said. "If I did it would risk stopping the sale and purchase agreement going ahead."
Instead, at RBS's request, the judge imposed injunctions on the co-owners to reconstitute the board, meaning commercial director Ian Ayre, managing director Christian Purslow and chairman Martin Broughton can approve the sale of the club to NESV.
Hicks and Gillett have been denied an avenue of appeal, so the judgement is a clear victory for RBS and the Liverpool board, led by Broughton. Mr Justice Floyd said it would be "inappropriate in the circumstances" to grant the Americans leave and that they would have to apply to the appeal court.
Purslow told Sky Sports News he was "absolutely elated, [it's] a very important day for our club." Broughton added: "We will have a board meeting this evening and proceed with the sale process."
However, Broughton would not confirm that NESV will be the new owners of the club, leaving open the possibility that Singaporean businessman Peter Lim may yet see his own £320 million offer accepted at Wednesday evening's board meeting. However, that remains very much an outside possibility.
When a takeover is completed, RBS will recoup the £237 million owed to it by the club's holding company, preventing Liverpool from going into administration and possibly incurring a nine-point deduction.
On Tuesday, Richard Snowden QC, acting for RBS, accused the two American owners of "breathtaking arrogance" as the bank claimed the pair contradicted the rules of a sales agreement when trying to remove Ayre and Purslow from the board last week. Ayre and Purslow had joined Broughton in voting to approve the sale of the club to NESV.
Hicks and Gillett admitted the sales agreement was breached but argued they were forced to take that course of action because a "sub-committee" of the board excluded them from the sales agreement and did not consider alternative offers for the club.
Following Wednesday's judgement, Ayre and Purslow will remain on the reconstituted board and a takeover can be formally approved. Hicks and Gillett stand to lose £144 million from the sale of the club that they purchased in 2007.
John W Henry, who fronts NESV, greeted the news on Twitter by writing: "Well done Martin, Christian & Ian. Well done RBS. Well done supporters!"
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