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By Pete Wilson
13 October 2010
Liverpool’s chairman Martin Broughton gave an interview after emerging from Court 18 in the Royal Courts of Justice in London this morning following the ruling in the RBS v Hicks & others case. He said he was “delighted” and said the board will now seek legal advice on whether tonight’s board meeting needs to consider new bids. In a sign that Peter Lim’s bid(s) aren’t about to usurp the deal with NESV, Broughton said: “I think you’ll find we considered all bids appropriately.”
1.55pm update: Lim has just issued a new statement urging reconsideration of his bid
Here is the Broughton interview in full.
Mr Broughton, your reaction to the outcome today?
We are delighted with the result. We feel justice has been done. That’s what we came for and that’s what we got. We are delighted.
Will you still have to seek a declaratory judgement as well?
We will take legal advice on that. We will get the board reconstituted by 8pm this evening and we will plan to have a board meeting soon after that.
And your intention is to continue with the sale to NESV?
We will continue with the sale process.
What do you think of the owners’ behaviour throughout this process?
I don’t wish to comment on the owners’ behaviour. I’ve commented on that enough. I think the court has argued in favour of the sale.
Will NESV own the club by tomorrow?
There’s a board meeting this evening, hopefully to determine whether or not that is the case.
Do you have a duty to consider any of the other bids that have come in that may be higher?
We will take legal advice on this.
Do you expect the owners to take part in this?
I would expect they will. They will certainly be invited as they were last time. I have no reason to believe they will not be there.
If there is an appeal next week will that affect the process?
We will take legal advice on that.
Has this been one of the most difficult periods in your business career?
It’s been a bit difficult but we got the right result.
Mr Lim’s complaint about not being properly considered – is there anything in that?
I think you’ll find we considered all bids appropriately.
Has this had any damage to your relationship with New England – will there be any smoothing over to do?
No smoothing over to do. We are delighted they were there.
And have you continued to talk to them throughout this process?
We’ve continued to talk to New England.
It came out in court, is the declaratory judgement an option rather than a condition of the sale?
It’s an option.
On either side?
Yes on either side.
You see all the supporters here, it obviously means a great deal to them – can they look forward to a better future?
Absolutely. We’ve been here to complete a sale process. We said right from the offset that we would find the right owners for Liverpool and that was our target. I think we’ve done that. We were very fortunate that we had two bidders, both of whom qualified as far as we were concerned for being the right owners. We had to choose between them and I think Liverpool Football Club can look forward to a great future with its new owners.
And what of your and Christian’s futures now? Any thoughts on how long you will be involved with the club?
There hasn’t been an item of discussion with New England at all.
What are your hopes for the club now?
The vital thing is that all of the offers have wiped out all of the acquisition debt and that puts the club on a sound financial footing. And that was the single most important thing.
What do you think won it?
Fragrant abuses of undertakings.
Were you always confident that you had a rock solid case?
Yes I was always confident. You can never be 100 per cent confident when it comes to court. That’s the only element of doubt.
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