Liverpool fans outside the High Court had been patiently awaiting newsLiverpool have moved a step closer to being sold to new owners, with New England Sports Ventures hoping to have a £300m bid accepted by the board.
Mr Justice Floyd ruled in the High Court that current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett had no power to block the sale to the Boston Red Sox owners.
Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said a new board would be reconstituted which would decide who to sell to.
He said: "It would be inappropriate to pre-judge what the board will say."
Hicks and Gillett had asked to delay the hearing of an application by creditors Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for mandatory orders, paving the way for a possible sale this week.
But the plea was rejected by the judge, and at RBS's request the court imposed injunctions on the two men requiring them to restore the original constitutions of the companies and managing directors.
RBS is now able to recoup its original £237m loan to Hicks and Gillett.
Broughton, for whom Wednesday's ruling is a significant victory, had consistently claimed that when the owners decided to put the club up for sale in April, RBS requested undertakings from them that only he - as independent chairman - could make changes to the club's board.
However, minutes before a meeting last week to discuss the bid by NESV, Hicks tried to sack Purslow and Ayre and install his son, Mack, and Lori McCutcheon, who works for Hicks Holdings.
Broughton rejected the proposal and continued with the meeting, with the England-based board members coming down in favour of the NESV bid.
In court, Philip Snowden QC, for RBS, had told Mr Justice Floyd that Hicks and Gillett were committing "a calculated breach of contract" by seeking to change the constitution of the board without the consent of the bank.
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Wednesday, 13 October 2010
BBC Sport - Football - Liverpool owners lose case in High Court
via news.bbc.co.uk
