Administration just isn’t an option for Reds, says Purslow
LIVERPOOL managing director Christian Purslow has dismissed suggestions that the club could be plunged into administration – while revealing there are a “small number of parties” exploring the possibility of taking over at Anfield.
Reds co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett put the club up for sale back in April but are yet to receive a suitable offer.
Just last week, Hicks was reportedly trying to strike a deal with Blackstone to buy out his fellow American, but the world’s largest private equity firm pulled the plug on the deal. That left him and Gillett with a £237m debt to Royal Bank of Scotland, due in the middle of next month, prompting fears that if the club is not sold in the near future, it could become the second Premier League club, after Portsmouth, to enter administration.
Purslow, however, played down such fears and remains hopeful that a takeover deal can be struck sooner rather than later.
“Liverpool FC is a very healthy business,” Purslow said. “We have cash, we are solvent, we have banking facilities which last beyond the end of next season and we are heavily scrutinised by the Premier League.
“To achieve our Uefa license we went through that process and they were very happy with what they saw – so I cannot conceive of a situation where Liverpool FC could go into administration. Liverpool FC is not going bust. We have an extremely healthy business with record revenues and we are highly profitable.”
Of a prospective new deal, Purslow added: “The process remains underway and there are a small number of potentially interested parties working seriously and privately. My hope is that one of those parties steps forward with a proposal to buy the club which is attractive to the board and which would be good for the club.”