Times Exlusive: India's richest man wants to buy Liverpool

[redeyes9]

We only Singh when we're winning........

[scott]

Let's hope so.
At the moment, anything is better than these Yanks.

[bavo]

Speaking of which how does everyone like these new scarfs? They look boss....

Although I still don't know where I can get hold of one online yet.

[Danny Boys Dad]

Speaking of which how does everyone like these new scarfs? They look boss....

Although I still don't know where I can get hold of one online yet.

Preferred the Everton half and half ones myself .....

[JesusTorres]

Seen the scarves on tlw can order them off a poster I think.

Hope this is true we need these Yanks out ! They will have to sell before the summer at least 50% I would think so hopefully this guy can get the 51 and then get them out completely! Know we have had so many links in the past but its hard not to get excited about getting rid of them two c..nts!!

[Roma77]

For fucks sake,  I knew the Mail was full of shit but you expect the Times to have higher standards.


India's wealthiest man denies Liverpool takeover deal

India's wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani, has denied he is competing to purchase a stake in Liverpool.

But another Indian businessman who is also said to be in the running for the Merseyside club appeared more circumspect.

The Times reported that Ambani, the world's seventh-richest man, was one of two tycoons from the subcontinent who were interested in buying a stake at Anfield.

According to the report, Ambani's Reliance Industries and Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy had each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool's £237 million debts in return for a 51 per cent stake in the club.

"There is no truth to the report. We deny it completely," Reliance spokeswoman Sudeep Purkayastha said.

Ambani is worth $19.5 billion from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.

In 2008, Ambani created the Mumbai Indians, one of the eight teams in cricket's Indian Premier League.

Roy's interest in Liverpool, however, appears "more serious". His Sahara conglomerate said it could neither confirm nor deny that a bid was in the offing.

"We are presently not in a position to comment," Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar said.

Sahara has been linked with ownership of one of the next IPL franchises, possibly to be based in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, where the group is headquartered.

Pressure has been mounting on Liverpool's feuding owners, US businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, to cut a deal to sell the Anfield club.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7194768/Indias-wealthiest-man-denies-Liverpool-takeover-deal.html

[bavo]

The only thing I am really clinging to right now is the comments by David Moores when those 2 of RAWK went to his house. It was something along the lines of he wanted to come out and publically talk about his decision to sell to G&H but he couldn't right now as he didn't want to put the club in jeapordy in terms of investment which according to his sources is not far off.

[byrnetred]

For fucks sake,  I knew the Mail was full of shit but you expect the Times to have higher standards.

in fairness even if it is true, he's not going to come out in public and say it

quick denial to the media and back to the table to cut a deal

interesting that it came from the business correspondate in the times

[kanonkop]

And only one of them has denied it.  The other one has said no comment which is essentially the same as saying the story is true

[stueya]

I have no doubt that things are moving on behind the scenes, I just hope to fucking god it's not another pair of twats like these American wankers.

[sib85]

I have no doubt that things are moving on behind the scenes, I just hope to fucking god it's not another pair of twats like these American wankers.

You just cant be sure what or who your selling the club to but surely nothing could be as bad as these two.

[kanonkop]

At least the club would be debt free which is a small step in the right direction.

[redscott]

ive heard to many rumours about potential investors until anything is signed and sealed i wont believe it

[redheadfred]

I will believe when I see it.

[bavo]

I have no doubt that things are moving on behind the scenes, I just hope to fucking god it's not another pair of twats like these American wankers.

As long as it isn't someone whos money is tied up in other assets then we should be ok.

[Daveyred]

Won't believe anything until it's all signed and done.

[kanonkop]

So it looks like the situation is that there is a very credible and fairly priced offer on the table and perhaps even two offers but the yanks are being their typical greedy selves and don't consider it good enough.  Will all be solved in the summer when the club is forcibly taken off their hands by RBS at the very latest.

====================

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article7021154.ece

Roy steps up Liverpool takeover bid

Tony Evans, Football Editor, Rhys Blakely, Mumbai

Subrata Roy is ready to increase the pace of his bid for Liverpool. A spokesman for Sahara, the Indian tycoon’s company, declined to comment on the takeover attempt yesterday, but sources in India confirmed the interest while saying that discussions were at an early stage.

Roy’s bid was revealed in these pages yesterday, along with a rival offer from Mukesh Ambani. Reliance Industries, Ambani’s company, issued a denial yesterday, but The Times understands that India’s wealthiest man remains in the background as a potential investor. Both bids offered to take on Liverpool’s £237 million debt in exchange for 51 per cent of the club.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are unlikely to accept such terms, although pressure on the co-owners from Royal Bank of Scotland to pay off £100 million of the debt by July is growing. The bank has become increasingly frustrated by the failure of the Americans to bring new investment to Anfield.

Merrill Lynch and Rothschild have been charged with finding an injection of fresh cash, but the Americans have approached other merchant banks over the past month as they cast their net ever wider in search of investment.

Christian Purslow was enlisted at Anfield last summer with a brief to bring in new investment. Purslow’s background is in private equity, but so far the managing director has been unsuccessful in his efforts, despite repeated assurances that the arrival of funds is imminent.

Sources inside the club have claimed that up to £125 million is about to be pumped into Anfield, but few potential investors have found the prospect of taking a minority share to prop up the dysfunctional reign of Gillett and Hicks palatable.

Roy is the son of a sugar mill worker. He founded Sahara in 1978 with £5 and a scooter used to zip between clients in the poor northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It is now one of India’s largest savings groups and forms the bedrock of a sprawling conglomerate worth more than £5 billion.

The entrepreneur styles himself “chairman and Managing Worker” and Sahara sponsors the India cricket team. It also backs the national hockey side and has made an “emotional commitment towards betterment of sports in India”, in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. The group was rumoured to be looking at replacing AIG as Manchester United’s shirt sponsor.

A consummate networker, Roy’s ties to senior politicians, businessmen and celebrities are legendary. His business, which spans real estate, satellite television and film, remains based on an army of door-to-door agents who collect deposits from their customers and reinvest them on their behalf.

He has not been immune to criticism, most strikingly that Sahara resembles a cult more than a business. Its 700,000 workers are told that they are members of a “family” and greet each other by putting their right arm across their chest and saying “Sahara pranam” (greetings Sahara).

As head of the family, Roy likes to play his cards close to his chest. Sahara is privately owned and its accounts are not fully accessible, traits that critics say has made it overly opaque. He seldom grants interviews.

[gramck24]

Actions speak louder than words.

I'm not believing or getting my hopes up until we see something concrete.

To many false dawns to count.

[zizkov]

Any relation to Bryan Roy? The old Forest winger.

[Me Old Pal Joe]

Any relation to Bryan Roy? The old Forest winger.

 

[kanonkop]

Nope, its Roy of the Rovers apparently

[Ben]

They will assett strip us before they are forced to sell, that's how hateful and greedy they are.

there would be murder before that happened

[grooverider527]

What do people actually know about these two guys though?

Please don't just say they can't be any worse than Hicks and Gillett.

[joeb090]

What do people actually know about these two guys though?

Please don't just say they can't be any worse than Hicks and Gillett.

They enjoy spicy food.

[Roma77]

What do people actually know about these two guys though?

Please don't just say they can't be any worse than Hicks and Gillett.

Exactly, we could be jumping out of the frying pan into the Karahi.