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Hicks and Gillett fail with High Court bid

Liverpool supporters were out in force at the High Court © Getty Images

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Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have failed in their High Court bid to halt the sale of the club by chairman Martin Broughton.

Hicks and Gillett opposed the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures as they stood to lose £144 million.

Mr Justice Floyd heard arguments by legal teams representing Hicks and Gillett, the Liverpool board and chief creditor Royal Bank of Scotland and ruled in favour of RBS.

At RBS' request, the judge imposed injunctions on the two men requiring them to restore the board, meaning commercial director Ian Ayre, managing director Christian Purslow and chairman Martin Broughton can approve the sale of the club.

Hicks and Gillett have been denied an avenue of appeal, meaning the judgement is a clear victory for RBS and the Liverpool board, led by Broughton.

Broughton confirmed the board will be reconstituted and will sit on Wednesday evening to discuss the next step, meaning there could still be room for manoeuvre for rival bidder Peter Lim to step in.

"The board has to be reconstituted," Broughton said. "And I can't prejudge what the board will say. It would be inappropriate to prejudge what the board is going to say. But the club's going to have a great future. We will re-establish the right basis for the club.

"The acquisition debt that has been plaguing us will be gone, we have a great future. We will get the right owners for the fans."

Keith Oliver, a solicitor acting for Hicks and Gillett, said: "We are obviously disappointed with the judge's decision. Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett will now be considering their next steps, and that will include whether to make an application to the Court of Appeal."

Richard Snowden QC, acting for RBS, on Tuesday 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 takever can be pushed forward. Hicks and Gillett stand to lose £144 million.

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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