Liverpool sale on as Hicks and Gillett lose court case

Liverpool fans are celebrating the end of the Hicks and Gillett era  after a High Court judge ruled that the club's hated American co-owners could not block the sale of the club.

Mr Justice Floyd handed down his ruling at the Royal Cours of Justice the morning after a day of complex legal argument.

In the end he sided with the Royal Bank of Scotland, to who the club owes £237m. The bank had said that under the terms of a loan agreement in April the owners could not block the sale.

Hicks and Gillett had tried to do just that after the other three board members at Liverpool, chairman Martin Broughton (above left), managing director Christian Purslow (centre) and commercial director Ian Ayre, voted to accept an offer of £300m for the club from the owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, New England Sports Ventures.

Jubilant fans danced and sang outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the verdict was delivered. They mobbed Broughton singing: "We love you Martin, we do".

The ruling paves the way for a quick sale of the club, and new owners could even be in place in time for the Merseyside derby this weekend.

"I am absolutely elated, it's a very important day for our club," said Broughton. "This will clear the way for the sale, we will have a board meeting this evening and proceed with the sale."

John W Henry, the millionaire businessman behind NESV was also happy at the news. He took to Twitter to say: "Well done Martin, Christian and Ian. Well done RBS. Well done supporters!"

However, it is not a foregone conclusion that Henry will be the new man in the Anfield hotseat.

Two new bids have been made for the club since the offer from NESV was first accepted last week. One has come from Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, who is offering £320m for the club plus an injection of transfer funds.

The other bid is from an American hedge fund Mill Financial, which technically controls Gillett's stake in the club after he defaulted on a loan. It has pledged to wipe out Liverpool's debts and provide up to £100m to fund a new stadium.

On Tuesday Hicks and Gillett had tried to persuade the court that they had been wrongly frozen out of negotiations to sell the club.

Although Broughton had been told to find a buyer by Hicks and Gillett, they were not happy with the £300m offer from NESV, which they said was too low, and tried to sack Purslow and Ayre from the board and replace them with their own people.

If the club does now change hands for £300m, the Americans stand to lose some £140 on their investment. They bought Liverpool in 2007, but did so by taking out loans that were then transferred to the club leaving it heavily in debt. The £300m from NESV will only just cover those debts.

In siding with RBS Mr Justice Floyd said: "The owners do not have an absolute right to veto a sale."

He also denied the American owners the right to appeal against his decision meaning that they will have to apply to the Court of Appeal for permission. ·