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Posts Tagged ‘dallas’

• Klein group set to earn up to £260,000 in fees
• Fans worried by proximity of Klein to Tom Hicks

Michael Klein seems to have re-emerged as a key figure behind the scenes at Liverpool. The former Citibank grandee was instrumental in BarCap’s acquisition of Lehman Bros two years ago and was the man who recommended the appointment of Martin Broughton as the Anfield chairman in April.

Klein and Broughton were, until 2008, co-chairmen of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue lobby and it was Broughton who confirmed that Liverpool’s co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, “knew [Klein] from old”.

Now Digger can reveal that a certain Klein Group – whose backer is unknown, but is more likely to be Michael Klein than the WalMart builder or the Dallas kids’ clothing retailer by the same name – will earn up to $400,000 (£260,000) in fees from the setting up of the Hicks Acquisition Co II this column exposed yesterday.

That was set up at the time when BarCap drew up a refinancing proposal for Hicks and Gillett, and fans are worried the proximity of Klein both to Hicks and to BarCap will lead to Barclays assisting the Americans in retaining control of the club beyond Royal Bank of Scotland’s 6 October refinancing deadline. The Kop Faithful pressure group yesterday sent an open letter to 40 BarCap staff demanding that they do not proceed with the refinancing plans. But it may never get that far in any case.

Although Broughton knows Klein well, he did oppose the refinancing scheme when it was presented to the board. And RBS, which as primary lender stands to lose most if BarCap were to deliver Liverpool to Hicks with reduced debt, told Digger: “We have full confidence in Barclays and the chairman to complete a sale.”

Bellamy transfer scrutiny

Championship clubs are expected to challenge the Football League board to introduce measures against a repeat of the kind of player-loans characterised by the move of Craig Bellamy, below, to Cardiff City. The League’s board meets on 9 September and is expected to discuss the effect of the loan transfer from Manchester City.

The view that Doncaster Rovers’ chairman, John Ryan, expressed yesterday, that the deal “will distort the integrity of the Championship”, is shared by several clubs in the division.

Rules state that loanee clubs must pay the wages of borrowed players in their entirety. It would not be difficult to return the regulations to their previous form, but it will need much debate: several other clubs now host Premier League players and would not wish to relinquish that lightly.

2018 team says no to logo

Fifa demands stringent brand protection by World Cup organising committees, and even in the bid phase England 2018 has taken action against unauthorised marketing. Such strong action, in fact, that the cease-and-desist order it issued involved one of its proposed host cities. Douglas Fletcher, chairman of the Plymouth World Cup Bid 2018 group, sent an email to local businesses asking for a contribution of £1,000 towards marketing costs. Fletcher said: “In return you’ll get [inter alia] the chance to use the Official World Cup Bid logo when we reach £250,000 in donations.” No you won’t. England 2018 informed Plymouth that use of official World Cup Bid marques is not permitted without prior authorisation from England 2018, which itself must gain Fifa approval.

Taking the Michael

Michael O’Rourke, founder of the failed sports broadcaster Setanta, has re-entered the UK pay-tv market with the resale of Celtic’s Europa League play-off match against Utrecht on his new Premier Sports channel. You have to admire the man’s entrepreneurial spirit, but Celtic fans are quite reasonably questioning his gall after the Setanta collapse cost their club, along with the rest of the Scottish Premier League, millions in lost revenue.

LiverpoolMatt Scottguardian.co.uk

• Admits to stalemate with lenders over sale of club
• Had hoped deal would be completed by 19 April

The Liverpool co-owner, Tom Hicks, has hit a brick wall over the sale of his Major League Baseball club, Texas Rangers. On the field at Fenway Park before the Rangers played the Boston Red Sox last night, Hicks said the dispute is over what the lenders think the Rangers are worth.

Hicks, who along with George Gillett has hired Barclays Bank to lead the search for a buyer for Liverpool, said he had hoped the sale would have been completed by opening day (4 April) or by 19 April.

“The lenders have to agree with baseball and the buying group that it’s the right price,” Hicks said. “There is some concern that they think somebody will pay a higher price. That’s what the dispute’s all about.”

The sides announced an agreement on 23 January, but creditors of the Hicks Sports Group, which owns the Rangers and the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars, have not approved it.

“We’re not really involved in it because we don’t get any of the proceeds,” Hicks said. “It all goes to the lenders.”

“I thought it would be done by opening day. I thought it would be done by 19 April. Right now, we’ll all just have to wait and see. There’s nothing I can do.”

The Rangers’ sale must be approved by three-quarters of the 30 teams before it can be finalised. The original asking price had been for around $600m but the sale is expected to realise a lot less.

MLBUS sportLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Shareholding in baseball expected to raise nearly £350m
• Uncertain whether funds will be invested in Liverpool

Liverpool’s co-owner Tom Hicks has agreed to sell his majority shareholding in the Texas Rangers baseball team but doubts remain over whether the American will reinvest funds from the deal in the Merseyside club.

Hicks is expected to receive close to $500m (£350m) for the franchise, which he has owned through Hicks Sports Group since 1998, from a consortium headed by the Pittsburgh-based attorney Chuck Greenberg and the legendary former Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.

The deal must first be approved by Major League Baseball and creditors of Hicks Sports Group but is expected to be finalised by 5