‘I should have known better… he was impossible to deal with. Shame on me!’ Former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks admits he was wrong to buy Anfield club with George Gillett and reveals how he toured Middle East searching for investors to buy his partner out
- American investors Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought Liverpool in 2007
- But it soon became apparent to Hicks that he’d picked wrong business partner
- Hicks says Gillett was ‘impossible to deal with’ and regrets his decisions
- Texan toured the Middle East looking for investors to buy Gillett’s stake in club
- They were forced out of the club following legal battle with John Henry in 2010
- That came after months of fan protests against levels of debt against the club
Former Liverpool owner Tom Hicks has admitted it was a mistake to partner with George Gillett to buy the Anfield club and says he desperately tried to buy him out.
The American investors took over the Merseyside club in February 2007, shortly before they reached a second Champions League final in three seasons, for £435million but the project ended in expensive failure three years later.
Their takeover cost in the region of £435m, comprising £220m to buy out existing shareholders, including £44.8m of debt, plus a pledge of £215m to build Liverpool a new stadium in Stanley Park, which never materialised.
Tom Hicks (right) and George Gillett bought Liverpool in 2007 in a deal that totalled £435m
Hicks has now admitted it was a mistake to go into partnership with Gillett at Liverpool
Fan groups had urged Hicks and Gillett to sell their shares to Dubai International Capital as early as 2008, but when Gillett agreed to sell 98 per cent of his stock the move was blocked by Hicks.
They lost their grip on the club to John Henry and his New England Sports Ventures group in November 2010 following a legal wrangle, amid a backdrop of protests from angry Liverpool supporters.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hicks admitted: ‘Absolutely I made some mistakes, I did some things that were very good also but the biggest problem I had was, I picked the wrong partner!
‘I should’ve known better, I knew George Gillett from previous business deals that we’d ventured into together, where my firm owned 85 per cent and his 15, and he was impossible to deal with.
The co-owners watch a match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield in 2007
However, fan sentiment quickly turned against the pair for the levels of debt leveraged
‘So why would I then go and do a fifty-fifty deal with the guy? Well shame on me!’
Hicks added that Gillett had ‘personal financial issues’ and that they disagreed when Hicks wanted to get rid of chief executive Rick Parry at the outset.
He added: ‘I knew it was a mistake after the first few months. We actually agreed to part ways but every time I tried to get the money to buy him out something would happen and he was also trying to do the same to me, it was just a very poor partnership.’
Hicks said he travelled extensively over the Middle East looking for potential investment in order to buy out Gillett’s 50 per cent share of the club but it didn’t come to fruition.
Fans called for the Americans to sell to investors from Dubai within a year of them taking over
Following a legal battle in 2010, ownership of Liverpool passed from the pair to John Henry
Liverpool have gone on to enjoy considerable success under Henry in recent seasons
Public opinion from the fans quickly shifted when the level of debt being leveraged against the club by the American owners became apparent.
Hicks says he felt ‘betrayed’ that negative fan sentiment was being whipped up on social media by ‘people I thought were working for me – in hindsight they were trying to sabotage the ownership.’
He described current owner Henry as ‘lucky’ to have found the perfect manager in Jurgen Klopp, who led Liverpool to their sixth Champions League success last season.
Asked if he still follows Liverpool’s fortunes, Hicks said: ‘A little bit and with mixed feelings. I’d like to have been the half owner when it was worth $3billion but I’m not.’