Morgan withdraws investment offer

Last updated : 21 December 2004 By Rich Middleton
Morgan has been at the centre of a heated relationship between himself and the Liverpool board of directors, but today it was announced that the £70m investment offer was no longer on the table.

The Liverpool board were accused by Morgan's lawyer of using him as a 'stalking horse' whilst waiting for better bids to be made, leaving Morgan himself with no knowledge as to the boards decisions regarding his own succession of bids.

The relationship between Morgan and the Liverpool board was further soured at the clubs AGM last month, during which even Mr Morgan's wife berated the Liverpool board for their disrespect and lack of courtesy for her husbands repeated offers to invest in the club.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Morgan's lawyer, Vincent Fairclough, said: "Steve has finally lost patience with the Liverpool board using his offer as a stop-gap while they scour the world looking for a better one. He is no longer prepared to be used as a stalking horse. Although Mr Morgan's earlier offers were to invest all £70 million directly into the club this was not acceptable to the chairman."  

Fairclough insisted his client had done everything possible to create an appropriate offer to the club, adding: "Both his latest offers were changed at the request of the club's directors to be split so that £35 million went directly into the club and £35 million was used to purchase existing shares, with Mr David Moores receiving the lion's share."

Fairclough added: "At the AGM, chairman David Moores said it was 'maybe time' to accept the offer. He and the Liverpool board have since failed to respond, either positively or negatively."

However, Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, said that so long as other offers were available, it was up to the board to carefully pick the correct option.

He said: "We've received a potentially exciting expression of interest which may or may not lead to a firm proposal. We feel duty bound to explore this fully. We made it clear this interest came late in the day."

Parry added: "While no-one wants this to drag on we feel we have to consider all options in a considered way. But while there are other options, it's up to us to explore them."