Liverpool takeover 'stepped up' as Kenny Huang enters talks with RBS

CHINESE sports mogul Kenny Huang could be the new owner of Liverpool FC by the end of this month.

His bid values the club at around £325m – way below the level sought by co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett – and would leave the club debt-free.

Mr Huang is understood to want to take control as soon as possible, and is ambitiously targeting being in charge in time to give new manager Roy Hodgson funds to use before the transfer window closes on August 31.

Sources close to the club last night described his approach as “very serious”, but stressed that any deal would not be driven by footballing timetables. More pressing from the Liverpool FC side is its large loan from its bankers Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The club has a £297m credit facility that is dependent on short-term extensions, and RBS has repeatedly said that only new investment or a change of ownership would see this renegotiated. British Airways chairman Martin Broughton was brought in as an independent chairman in April to oversee the sale of the club, with RBS setting a six-month deadline.

Last night, Mr Broughton said: “It still remains the objective to conclude a deal before the end of the transfer window.”

from liverpooldailypost.co.uk