Reds owners 'reject' DIC bid
by Tom Adams, 04 March 2008
Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have rejected DIC’s £400 million takeover bid for the Premier League club, according to a report by the Associated Press.
The Dubai-based group made a formal approach to the two American owners on Tuesday after confirming earlier that talks had taken place between the two parties.
However, the agency is reporting that Hicks immediately spurned their advances and that Gillett was unwilling to sell because the offer undervalued his 50 percent stake in the club.
Hicks’ declaration last week that he has no intention of selling up has proved to be true, and the development may dismay some sections of the Liverpool support who have been vocal in their desire to see the two unpopular figures leave Anfield.
Hicks and Gillett purchased Liverpool for £218.9 million in March 2007 but the two have reportedly fallen out and Gillett is believed to have scaled down his involvement in the club.
With DIC’s bid falling through, it remains to be seen whether Hicks will seek to purchase Gillett’s stake in the club as he has underlined that he is to battle on in his role on Merseyside.
A contrasting report claims Hicks has not yet formally rejected the offer, but that he remains opposed to selling his stake in the club.