Liverpool FC seals GBP 350 mln refinancing

LONDON (Reuters) – Liverpool Football Club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, sealed a 350 mln pounds ($685.4 mln) refinancing package on Friday.

The deal makes any sale of the Premier League club less likely in the short term at least after media speculation that Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) was considering a renewed bid.

Of the 350 mln pounds, 105 mln is tied to the club. About 65 mln pounds of that will help kick-start building work for a new 71,000 seater stadium with the rest earmarked for player transfers and the club’s working capital needs.

The other 245 mln pounds will be held at the holding company level and refinances the money borrowed to buy the club for 220 mln pounds last year.

The overall financing is being supported by a combination of Hicks and Gillett’s own money and letters of credit and personal guarantees totalling 225 mln pounds.

While the Americans were negotiating with financing banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, there was widespread speculation that DIC was considering another bid.

DIC, the investment arm of the Dubai government, was outbid when Hicks and Gillett bought the Merseyside club last year

Hicks, despite recently revealing that he had approached former Germany head coach Juergen Klinsmann in November about replacing Rafael Benitez as manager, backed the Spaniard.

“I am solidly behind Rafa and am confident of the team’s competitive prospects under his continuing leadership,” Hicks said in a statement from Kop Football Holdings Limited.