Gillett agrees to sell Liverpool stake to Dubai

DEAL AGREED: Gillett has agreed to sell a 49% stake in Liverpool to DIC, the lead negotiator on the deal said. (Getty Images)

Dubai has finally got its hands on Liverpool FC, with co-owner George Gillett agreeing to sell 49% of the football club for an estimated 170 million pounds ($342.9 million), the lead negotiator on the deal claimed on Sunday.

Although the sale has yet to be finalised, Gillett has agreed in principle to the deal with Dubai International Capital (DIC), Amanda Staveley, head of PCP Capital Partners, told the UK's Daily Telegraph.

"The legal documents have yet to be signed, but we're really pleased. Of course we want to own Liverpool outright but this large stake is a great start," Staveley was quoted as saying.

Under the deal, outlined on Friday, Gillett will sell 1% of his 50% stake to co-owner Tom Hicks, giving him a majority holding of 51%, and the remaining to DIC.

Staveley's latest remarks follow an angry attack by Hicks on the lead negotiator, accusing her of leaking information to the British media.

"If she thinks that is an appropriate way to acquire a stake in Liverpool FC, she had better think again," Hicks said in a statement to newswire AP on Saturday.

Hicks claimed that no deal had been agreed with DIC and that there were several suitors the American owners were in talks with.

"DIC is one of several potential minority investors we are or will be talking to," he said.

Hicks and Gillett last Wednesday rejected an $800 million bid from DIC for the whole club, which would have included paying off the refinancing package the Americans agreed in January for the loan used to purchase the club.

The pair rejected the offer after DIC reportedly gave the owners 24 hours to decide.

The rejection came after DIC Chief Executive Sameer Al-Ansari said it had been in talks to buy the club, but that the owners were in “dreamland” over valuations.

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