Gillett ponders sale of share in Liverpool

George Gillett is considering the sale of his sporting assets including Premier League Liverpool and NHL team Montreal Canadiens, La Presse newspaper reported yesterday.

Canadiens president Pierre Boivin told the French-language newspaper that Canadian financial company BMO Capital Markets had been asked to look into the future of the Canadiens, the Montreal Bell Centre where the team plays and the Gillett Entertainment Group.

Boivin also said Gillett had hired a total of four financial firms in Europe, the United States and Canada to look at all Gillett's properties, including Liverpool.

Boivin cited the economic crisis and what he said was the unwillingness of banks to finance even very good projects.

"BMO Capital Markets has received a mandate to evaluate all the possible strategies concerning the properties owned by the Gillett family in Montreal," he said.

"We could be talking about capitalisation, financial restructuring, new investors or - to put it bluntly - the sale of the enterprises."

Rumours have swirled for months that Gillett was looking to sell the Canadiens. Last December he denied this was the case.

Gillett owns 80.1 per cent of the Canadiens and 50 per cent of Liverpool.

Gillett and co-owner Tom Hicks have endured a stormy relationship since taking control of five-times European champions Liverpool for £218.9 million in February 2007.