2018-03-09
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Liverpool complete £350m refinancing
The US owners of Liverpool Football Club have completed its long-await-ed refinancing, securing a £350m loan from Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.
The deal follows a period of uncertainty for the club, which has seen fans turn against Tom Hicks and George Gillett less than a year after they completed their £219m takeover.
Talk of a split between the US owners intensified when Mr Hicks made remarks which appeared to put the position of Rafael Benitez, the manager, in jeopardy. It also emerged that Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of the UAE royal family, was positioning itself to buy all or part of the shareholding in the event of the refinancing deal falling apart.
DIC was in the frame to buy the club last year until the Hicks/Gillett consortium stepped in at the 11th hour.
Mr Hicks said the refinancing deal was “a strong vote of confidence in the club’s financial strength” and recognised the potential of the new stadium at Stanley Park.
“The successful completion of this financing package is particularly significant in light of the currently challenging credit market environment. With the refinancing process now done, club supporters can look forward to the timely commencement of construction work on the new stadium and renew their focus on actions on the pitch,” he added.
The consortium borrowed £ 298m to purchase the club. The new package will add debt of about £ 105m, which will be used to fund the start of construction of the new stadium, player transfers and working capital needs.
The package will need to be refinanced again in 18 months’ time, accord-ing to a person close to the club. The remaining £245m will go on to Kop Football, the holding company for Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett, to refinance the £60m of debt on Liverpool’s books when the club was bought last year. About £60m will fund start-up costs for the stadium.
Liverpool fans voiced their displeasure at the US duo at Monday night’s home league game against Aston Villa. However, in the Kop Football statement, Mr Hicks said the manager “has been assured that he has continuing and enthusiastic support”.
Alongside the refinancing announcement was the appointment of Dallas-based HKS as architects of the stadium, which is scheduled to open in August 2011. It will cost £300m to build.
Another oil major invests in renewable energy
After finally resolving the dispute over Kashagan (a fair result financially, although not a kind one for corporate reputations), Eni was able to move on to happier news today with its announcement of a $50m investment in to solar energy research at MIT.
Italian business leaders have long resented the fact that cloudy Germany has a much better-developed solar power sector than they do, so it is an obvious interest for a company looking for a future beyond its established strength in oil and gas.
This route is becoming a well-trodden path, with all the oil majors includ-ing BP and even ExxonMobil investing in R&D for alternative energy. The question one has to ask, though, is whether they will benefit very much from it in the end. History shows that it is hard to realise the full potential of a new business that competes directly against your traditional core activity. Just look at IBM and Xerox.
We have not yet found the Microsoft and Apple of the energy world, but somewhere, they are probably out there.
