Reds’ US owners agree restructuring of bank loans

LIVERPOOL’S American owners have concluded a deal to re-finance the bank loan they took out to buy the club in 2007.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not expected to issue a statement, but the deal is believed to be for another year and will involve them paying back £60m (€70m) of the original debt.

Negotiations between the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Wachovia and the owners have continued for months with the worldwide credit crunch making them tortuous.

There has been real fear that the banks would call in the loan, while both Hicks and Gillett have searched for someone to take a minority stake in the club for around £100m (€116m) to no avail.

But a source close to the owners has confirmed that the deal has now been concluded, and before last weekend’s deadline for re-financing the package expired.

The owners have reduced the £290m (€336m) they owed to £230m (€266m), with £60m (€70m) being repaid, half immediately.

Hicks, 63, and Gillett, 70, purchased Liverpool in 2007 for £174m (€201.5m), taking on £44.8m (€52m) of liabilities.

At the time they maintained that financing the debt would not fall on the club. But that attitude changed, and Liverpool now have to find around £40m (€46.3m) a year to service the debt, a situation that has enraged fans’ groups and impacted on boss Rafael Benitez’s transfer budget.

The owners have also failed to find the money to build the club’s new stadium with preliminary work on the Stanley Park venture halting during last season.

Extra cash for the stadium “did not form part of any discussions” claimed the source, although there is still a projected date for completion of 2012.