The Guardian claims that a deal would have to be reached by midnight for Dubai International Capital group to assume control of Liverpool Football Club. DIC CEO Sameer Al Ansari confirmed early Tuesday that investment talks with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gilett are ongoing; the Guardian report says a midnight deadline has been set.
“It’s no secret that we have been in discussions with the current owners,” Al Ansari said. “It’s not easy because the owners are in dreamland about valuations at the moment.” However, Al-Ansari later claimed that one of the owners “had come out of dreamland,”most likely referring to Gillett, who is understood to want out of the deal.
Last week, Hicks pointed out that he has the right of first refusal if Gillett decides to sell his 50 percent stake. Since the pair has fallen out, Hicks is trying to secure the necessary funds to buy Gillett out. DIC, meanwhile, was confident that Gillett would be willing to accept an offer of $400 million for his shares, which would represent a profit of $50 million. However, it seems that Hicks has blocked the move, as DIC’s $800 million bid was turned down by the American pair on Tuesday. Despite Hicks’ firm comments to the contrary, DIC said the Texas billionaire had been encouraging the group to negotiate with him over a Liverpool sale, indicating that he could be bought out for the right price.