Singapore billionaire bids for Liverpool

SINGAPORE: Singapore billionaire Peter Lim has made a Pound 320 million offer for English Premier League club Liverpool, a media report said today.

Lim said his offer would pay off the acquisition debt that current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillet took out to buy the club and also free Liverpool of its own bank debt.

"I am committed to rebuild the club so that it can regain its position at the pinnacle of English and European football, where it truly belongs. This is why I have stepped forward with this offer," Lim was quoted as saying by The Straits Times.

Lim said the money was immediately available if the Liverpool board accepts his offer. He has also promised manager Roy Hodgson an initial transfer chest of Pound 40 million to buy new players.

Lim's is not the only group trying to buy Liverpool. Boston group New England Sports Ventures and US hedge fund, Mills Financial, are also bidding to secure the club, England's top football club with a global following.

A British High Court is to decide today the fate of Liverpool.

The 57-year old Lim, the son of a fishmonger, made his fortune from investments in strategic companies in 1980s and 1990s.