Hicks and Gillett facing £20m RBS bank penalty

Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett will be given a £20million penalty fine if the club is not sold by the end of August, according to the Daily Telegraph and Daily Star. Bank RBS, which holds £237million worth of debt on the club, is imposing “ticking fees” on the owners rather than the club to try and force the Americans to sell the club as quickly as possible. Hicks and Gillett are also said to be personally responsible for paying interest charges after RBS agreed to extend their loan in April, and the bank will take what they’re owed from the proceeds of the sale of the club. If the sale does not exceed total debt on the club of £282.4 million however, the American owners will have to pay for the charges themselves. The Americans are said to be holding out for £600million, although Kenny Huang, one of the prime candidates to buy the club has come out and stated he is only “50%” confident he will buy the club.