English Premier League football club Liverpool's American owners were strongly condemned in the High Court in London today for taking action in the US courts to try to block the sale of the club.
Mr Justice Floyd criticised Tom Hicks and George Gillett as he granted anti-suit injunctions in a bid to nullify decisions taken in the court in Dallas.
The judge said he had given a ruling in London yesterday that meant the English directors of Liverpool could agree a £300m takeover by John W Henry's New England Sport Group (NESC).
But before the board could make any decision last night, Tom Hicks, one of the American owners, secured a temporary restraining order from the Texas court. Mr Justice Floyd said that, on the face of it, that amounted to 'unconscionable conduct on the part of Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett'.
Meanwhile, Singapore businessman Peter Lim today withdrew his £320m offer to buy Liverpool football club.
'It has become clear to me that the Board is intent on selling the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) to the exclusion of all other parties, regardless of the merits of their bids. In these circumstances, I am not able to proceed with my intention to acquire the club,' Lim said in a statement.
US move poured cold water on fans' joy
Weeks of bitterness appeared to be drawing to a close yesterday after London's High Court ruled that Hicks and Gillett could not block the £300m sterling sale of the club by sacking members of the board.
However, with Henry having flown in to attend a meeting in London with Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton and other board members to finalise the deal, Gillett and Hicks issued a statement last night saying they had been granted a temporary restraining order by a Texas court prohibiting the sale of the club.
It poured cold water on the euphoric celebrations of Liverpool fans who had waited outside the High Court, although the club later issued a statement saying it was determined to remove the latest obstacle.
English football's most protracted and bitter takeover could still be completed by the time Liverpool face Everton on Sunday but the soap opera appears to be short of its conclusion, even as an October 15 deadline for the repayment of £200m of debts looms.
The NESV deal was to have cleared the path for the debts' repayment to major creditor Royal Bank of Scotland. Failure to meet the Friday deadline could see the five-times European champions put into administration and docked nine points in the Premier League.
