A LIVERPOOL specialist in shareholder disputes and shareholder rights has spoken out about the current situation at Liverpool Football Club, with one of the co-owners calling for the chief executive to step down.
Paul Lunt, litigation partner at Brabners Chaffe Street says: “Reports that Tom Hicks has asked Rick Parry to resign demonstrate the increasing damage potentially caused to the club by the ongoing dispute between co-owners."
He added: “It also demonstrates the weakness of the position of both Hicks and George Gillett, with neither individually holding total control of the business.
“Requests from a business owner for an employee to resign are rare in as much as the owner can normally impose his will and decide to sack an employee, if that is his wish. The fact that Hicks has asked for a resignation suggests that he cannot impose his will in that respect and demonstrates the problems in trying to manage a business effectively in these situations.
“I suspect that Hicks faces this difficulty because he doesn’t control the board of directors itself and because he may well be subject to restrictions on what he can do without Gillett’s consent by reason of what Hicks has called the “partnership agreement� between them.
“As a former shareholder who sold to Hicks and Gillett myself, I would be disappointed to see Parry forced out. He always presented as a real asset to the board and the club.�