A file picture taken at Liverpool's Anfield stadium in north-west England, on February 6, 2007, shows Liverpool Football Club owners George Gillett (L) and Tom Hicks posing for photographs with a team scarf. Liverpool's American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett said British Airways chief Martin Broughton had been appointed chairman to oversee the sale of the Premier League side, according to a club statement issued on Friday, April 16, 2010. Getty Images/PAUL ELLIS/FILESPAUL ELLIS/Getty Images
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is launching another bid to keep hold of the Premier League club by securing financing from a private equity company which would share control with him.
Hicks along with co-owner George Gillett Jr. had put the club up for sale in April, saying they lacked the funding to take Liverpool forward, on and off the pitch, due to its debt of 237-million pounds (C$382.8-million).
But the lack of formal offers for the 18-time English champions has led to the Texan putting together his own financing deal, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
GSO Capital Partners, a subsidiary of Blackstone, has offered Hicks a two-year funding package worth around 280 million pounds (C$452 million) ahead of the October deadline facing the owners to repay the club's debt to Royal Bank of Scotland.
Blackstone, which would then have shared control of the club in return for its investment, was not immediately available for comment.
Blackstone's funding would give Hicks until 2012 to sell Liverpool and find an investor to match his valuation of around 600-million pounds (C$969-million) and make a significant return on the 218.9-million pounds (C$353.6-million) the Americans paid for the club in 2007.
Hicks hopes the funding would allow him to take full control, pay down the debt significantly and provide funds for players. It would also see Gillett's 50 per cent stake diluted, with the Colorado-native staying at Liverpool in what the person described as an "inactive" role.
Liverpool's debt was placed in RBS's Global Restructuring Group section which is dedicated to distressed assets.
A first attempt by Hicks to refinance the debt was rejected earlier this year by the Liverpool board to allow Barclays Capital bank to continue the ongoing search for a buyer.
But Gillett and Hicks could again be outvoted by managing director Christian Purslow, finance director Philip Nash and commercial director Ian Ayre on the board.
A global cast of investors and frontmen have come forward claiming to be the solution to Liverpool's financial predicament, but the owners have yet to find an acceptable buyer.
A 500 million pound (then C$1-billion) bid from Dubai International Capital was rejected in 2008. At that time, Hicks tried to buyout Gillett's 50 per cent stake.
Last year, Gillett sold the Montreal Canadiens, the Gillett Entertainment Group and the Bell Centre back to the Molson family for US$580-million.
Hicks' baseball team, the Texas Rangers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May and was bought in August by team president Nolan Ryan and sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg at auction for US$590-million.