Liverpool FC buy-out plan gains momentum

A Liverpool FC supporters’ group that has hatched a buy-out plan for the club has received assurances from fans worth around £50m.

ShareLiverpoolFC’s (SLFC) scheme depends on thousands of fans committing to shares and loan stock, while also securing the backing of a commercial partner.

One of the group’s directors Chris Talavera, a former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said some 16,000 fans had pledged their support.

Mr Talavera said: “We have a database where the fans imply whether they’re interested and the amount they’re prepared to support us for. We’re at around £50m, but it’s a very rough guide.

“When push comes to shove and the time comes to make a commitment we don’t know how much they will actually put in.”

The supporters behind SLFC want to buy the club from its owners, the American investors George Gillet and Tom Hicks, who they say have saddled the club with enormous debts.

In July Gillet and Hicks renegotiated the club’s debts with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia. They are understood to have paid off some £60m of the £290m total. ShareLiverpool’s plan is to secure enough backing for the idea to be taken seriously as a bidder for the club.

Mr Talavera added: “We’ve got to try and build support from the fan base to a certain level before we can push more vigourously with the bank. Without a high level of support we lack credibility.”

SLFC hopes to raise around £10m by selling £500 shares in SLFC on a one person one share basis. A further £140m would come from shareholding fans acquiring SLFC loan stock giving a return of 2% a year.

In addition, they are seeking a commercial partner to invest £100m in return for a 40% interest in the club, through a combination of loan stock and equity shares. Under the plan any existing debt would be exchanged for convertible loan stock in Liverpool FC, which SLFC would have rights to acquire from the banks over a 20-year term.