Red alert - Liverpool owner Hicks sees American business default on £350m loan

By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 1:42 PM on 15th April 2009

The American sports firm owned by Liverpool money man Tom Hicks has defaulted on $525million (£350m) of loans.

And he now risks losing control of the Texas Rangers baseball team and Dallas Stars ice hockey franchise, according to financial experts.

The Anfield co-owner insists his U.S. interests are entirely separate from his holding in Liverpool, which he shares with compatriot George Gillett.

Whole new ball game: Liverpool owners George Gillett (left) and Tom Hicks

However, the pair are in negotiations with Royal Bank of Scotland over extending a £350m loan secured in part against the Barclays Premier League club that comes up in July.

The default notice in the U.S. was triggered when the Hicks Sports Group failed to meet a March 31 $10m quarterly interest payment due on the loans.

Loan Rangers: Hicks' company, which controls the Texas Rangers, have defaulted on debts

The Texan financier is seeking to renegotiate the terms of the loans with a consortium of more than 40 banks led by Galatioto Sports Partners, a New York sports financing group that has loaned HSG nearly $100m.

Hicks insists that his decision to miss the payment is a negotiating tactic designed to force the banks to renegotiate in the light of the credit crisis.

Hicks told the Wall Street Journal: 'I'm confident that I'll be able to reach agreement with 51 per cent of the lenders because I will be able to fund all the cash needs of the two teams during the period that I'm bringing in new partners, which will help us to drastically reduce if not eliminate HSG's debt.

'Both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have strong protections for their franchises when discussions such as these are under way.

'As an owner and lender to HSG, I am working to negotiate something that will make economic sense going forward for me, HSG and its lenders.'