The Liverpool ownership saga took another bizarre twist tonight when a Texas court granted a temporary restraining order stopping the sale of the club.
Having gained the injunction from the Dallas court, Hicks and Gillett described the proposed £300m sale of Liverpool to NESV as “an epic swindle” and revealed they are seeking more than £1bn in damages.
In addition to the restraining order, the two U.S. owners have also suing are now suing Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). A statement released by Hicks and Gillett’s U.S attorneys read:
“The lawsuit also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions, and damages totalling approximately $1.6 billion (more than £1 billion). The suit lays out the defendants’ “epic swindle” in which they conspired to devise and execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value.”
Since the Texas court has no direct jurisdiction in the UK, I would expect that both New England Sports Ventures and Royal Bank of Scotland to be back in court tomorrow (Thursday) asking for the restraining order to be removed. If that happens the sale to NESV could be completed tomorrow. If that happens, I don’t believe that their is anything Hicks and Gillett could do at that point.