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NESV sure of 'binding agreement' with Liverpool

John Henry anticipates an imminent takeover © Getty Images

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The company bidding to take control of Liverpool after the High Court's decision on Wednesday, New England Sports Ventures (NESV), has claimed that it has a ''binding agreement'' with the club over the sale.

Liverpool accepted a bid of £300 million from John W. Henry's company and will meet in the boardroom to discuss the sale of the club on Wednesday night. Reports had suggested that Singaporean businessman Peter Lim could be granted control at Anfield if the board accepts his £320 million offer, but NESV has moved to assert its right to take over.

Henry's camp believe that the late bid by Lim, and by the hedge fund that took over George Gillett's 50% stake, had bid for Liverpool to help back up Tom Hicks' claims in court that there were bigger and better offers to consider.

However, those bids have now become redundant as the ownership of Liverpool has already effectively passed to NESV as its contract was conditional on the Premier League giving their approval (which it has done) and the High Court upholding Martin Broughton's right to sell it (which it has also done).

The new American 'owners' issued a statement to that effect: "NESV welcomes today's High Court judgement, which is a huge step forward for Liverpool FC. NESV has a binding agreement in place with the board of Liverpool FC and we are looking forward to concluding the deal. We are ready to move quickly and help create the stability and certainty which the club needs at this time. It is time to return the focus to the club itself and performances on the pitch."

Once the Liverpool board have ratified the £300 million sale, Henry and Tom Werner, the chairman of the group, plan to sit down with manager Roy Hodgson to discuss the transfer budget for the January window. With the debts cleared with the Royal Bank of Scotland, there will be an immediate windfall of £25 million which was scheduled to be paid in interest from the acquisitioned debt of the ousted former owners.

Lim, commenting on the judgement, urged the Anfield board to give his offer serious consideration and maintained he was still hopeful of doing a deal.

Lim said in a statement: ''I welcome the decision of the court. The way is now clear for the board to sell the club. I have delivered my offer to the board and believe that my ownership represents the best option for the future of the club and its supporters.

''I hope that when the board is reconstituted tonight that it will not simply ratify a sale to NESV but will consider all the offers before them. I am asking the board to run a full and fair process that enables all of the offers to be considered on their merits before the future of the club is decided.''

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