If Liverpool fans have been a little bit skeptical on the prospect of having another American owner, they want to warm up the idea real soon. Like a scene out of some Hollywood film, another bidder has emerged at the 11th hour to wrest control of the club away from Tom Hicks, George Gillette and the looming threat of administration.
Only thing is, this 11th hour bidder is no knight in white shinning armor. On the contrary, this supposed saviour is more likely to be found wearing a red shirt with the emblem of a devil holding a trident. Yes, Singaporean businessman, Peter Lim, is a Man Utd supporter!
So what on earth is a Utd supporter doing trying to buy Liverpool? Isn't that like a sure recipe for a quick and painful death? Think about it. He'll be hated at Liverpool for being a Man Utd supporter but shunned at Old Trafford for having the cheek to buy over its biggest rivals. If Liverpool fans had some doubts about John W Henry and New England Sports Ventures (NESV), they might start rooting for the Boston Red Sox owners now.
But what are the implications of Lim's last-minute bid?
For starters, his bid is GBP20 million higher than NESV. Secondly, he threw in his new offer around the same time the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Hicks and Gillette are battling in the High Court over whether the American duo can stop the sale of the club to NESV. In contention, particularly, is an alleged letter of undertaking from Hicks while refinancing the club's debt with RBS that gives the bank the right to appoint members of the board to sell the club.
Hicks and Gillette on the other hand attempted to block the sale to NESV by having both Liverpool managing director, Christian Purslow and commercial director, Ian Ayre, removed from the board and replaced with Hicks Jr and another party aligned with the Americans. But under the alleged letter of undertaking from Hicks during the club's refinancing, the American duo have no power over the composition or members of Liverpool's board.
Even if the High Court is not able to come up with a judgment this week, the club will surely fall into the hands of RBS by the end of the week when the club's debt to the bank is up. Should that happen, reports indicate RBS would very likely proceed with the sale of the club to NESV instead of putting Liverpool under administration and facing a possible nine-point deduction.
So it would seem that all is lost for Hicks and Gillette. Until the last minute entrance of Man Utd fan Peter Lim. So far, the Liverpool board have shown no interest or made no comments about considering or accepting Lim's offer.
That, however, could prove to be a salient point in Hicks and Gillette's argument on the competency of Purslow, Ayre and chairman, Martin Broughton. After all, the Americans could argue that only an incompetent board would choose to ignore a counter-bid for the club, especially when the new bid is higher than NESV's.
Should Hicks and Gillette convince the courts that Broughton, Purslow and Ayre haven't been acting in the club's best interest, there might be a way back for the American duo into the picture and the removal of the other three directors from the Liverpool board would be a surety.
Unless Broughton, Purslow and Ayre can prove that Lim is in actuality a red herring meant to block the sale of the club to NESV, which in my opinion, seems more likely. After all, if Lim is and has been serious about buying the club, why has he waited until the 11th hour to make his bid? Liverpool announced it had accepted NESV's bid mid last week while the Premier League approved of the takeover by Friday. Why didn't Lim announce his presence then?
Was it because he didn't have the extra cash in hand and had to raise it by some other means? And what about his allegiance to Man Utd. Here's a man who owns several Man Utd-themed restaurants and bars in the region. Why would he want to come to Liverpool's rescue?
Funnier yet is his announcement that he'll allocated GBP40 million for Roy Hodgson in January. GBP40 million can't buy you more than two world class footballers these days and Liverpool's in need of a lot more than just two. It's almost laughable to think that Lim intends to return Liverpool to their glory days with just GBP40 million.
This isn't the first time Hicks and Gillette have put red herrings on the bidding table in effort to increase another party's offer price. Earlier in the summer, Syrian-Canadian businessman, Yahya Kirdi was suspected to be acting in concert with Hicks and Gillette to increase the value of the other bids for Liverpool.
Last and not least, it seems extremely likely that Hicks would go through such lengths to maintain control over Liverpool although his reasons for doing so is anyone's guess. Already a hated figure at Anfield and by Liverpool fans the world over, Hicks will probably go down as the most hated figure in soccer should he succeed in stalling the sale of the club.
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