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Liverpool's board of directors has agreed to sell the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV), owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

But the takeover by NESV is subject to the resolution of a legal dispute with US owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The Premier League will also have to approve the latest American buyout.

Liverpool revealed it had received "two excellent financial offers for the club that would repay all its long-term debt" and announced this morning (October 6) that it had accepted NESV’s bid – thought to be in the region of £300m.

That would be enough to pay back the £240m of loans and £40m of fees owed to Royal Bank of Scotland, which must be settled at the end of next week.

However, the valuation falls well short of the £600m that Hicks and Gillett are thought to want for the club, hence their opposition.

During a night of drama, Hicks and Gillett tried to sack managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre in a last-ditch bid to keep control of the club.

In an attempt to block any sale, Liverpool's much-criticised owners tried to replace Purslow and Ayre with Hicks's son, Mack Hicks, and Lori Kay McCutcheon, a vice-president at Hicks Holdings.


Hicks and Gillett are understood to have argued that the club's English directors were not acting in the best interests of Liverpool and that the NESV bid – as well another undisclosed offer from Asia – "dramatically undervalued the club".

Purslow, Ayre and chairman Martin Broughton are now consulting lawyers over whether they can resist the owners' attempts to replace them and force through a sale.

"I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive,” Broughton said.

"The board decided to accept NESV's proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at the Red Sox.

"We've met them in Boston, London and Liverpool over several weeks and I am immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club.

"By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team. I am only disappointed that the owners [Hicks and Gillett] have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale."

Liverpool was put up for sale by Hicks and Gillett in April with debts of £351.4m.

They initially sought an asking price of about £800m, a figure they subsequently dropped to £600m.

In August, there were abortive bids from Hong Kong businessman Kenny Huang while a consortium fronted by Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi also expressed an interest.

Hicks and Gillett paid £174.1m to buy the club in 2007, while also agreeing to take on the club's debt of £44.8m.

Broughton was appointed as independent chairman as part of the sale process, ensuring the Americans no longer had a majority vote and could not prevent a sale that was in the best interests of the club.