The High Court in London ruled yesterday that undertakings provided earlier this year by the American owners to Liverpool main creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), in the agreement to roll over their debt, meant Hicks and Gillett could not change the club board last week. The Americans replaced two members of the board in an attempt to block a sale to NESV.
And when the board reconstituted last night, agreeing to complete the sale, it was informed about the injunction. The restraining order is part of a lawsuit filed against RBS, the members of the board and NESV, accusing them of conspiring to “execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value”.
The owners also say RBS informed investors that it would only approve of a deal if there was “no economic return to equity” for Hicks and Gillett.
The Americans are seeking $1.6 billion in damages, with a court hearing set for October 25, but the club board promised to “move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it [the injunction] removed”.
