Gillett May Sell Assets to Strengthen Position at Liverpool

The Liverpool co-owner, George Gillett, may attempt to consolidate his position at Anfield by selling his stake in the Montreal Canadiens hockey franchise.

Gillett has been looking to sell his 50% holding in Liverpool for over a year and is under increasing financial pressure as the July deadline approaches on a £350m refinancing package he arranged on the club with his co-owner Tom Hicks. Both Hicks and Gillett have been seeking investors willing to buy the latter's stake in Liverpool and finance the stalled new stadium project on Stanley Park, only for their asking price and strained relationship to thwart any deal so far.

Gillett, however, could strengthen his role at Anfield after it was revealed he has appointed four financial firms to explore the possible sale of his other sporting assets, including the Montreal Canadians, the Montreal Bell Centre where the team plays and the Gillett Entertainment Group. He has an 80.1% stake in the Canadiens – who were recently valued at £230m in the American business magazine, Forbes – and money acquired from their sale would allow Gillett to meet the personal guarantees in the Anfield refinancing deal and continue his controversial ownership of the club with Hicks.

The Canadiens' president, Pierre Boivin, told La Presse: "We're talking about a very large range of firms and assets which are good companies. There is Liverpool, Nascar, the Canadiens and the Bell Center. This [the review] could involve refinancing, the arrival of new investors or – purely and simply – the sale of certain assets." Boivin added: "The process has been started but we're only at the beginning. We're not hiding it; we're going through a very difficult economic period." Gillett has previously insisted the Canadiens were not for sale.