London, England (CNN) -- Liverpool Football Club, one of England's most prestigious teams, announced Wednesday that its board has agreed to sell the team to New England Sports Ventures, the company that owns baseball's Boston Red Sox.
The sale is conditional on approval from the Premier League, to which Liverpool belongs; resolution of a dispute about board membership; and other matters, Liverpool said.
The offer from NESV was one of two the club said Tuesday it had received to repay its long-term debt. It had called a board meeting Tuesday to review the bids and approve a sale.
The amount of the sale wasn't immediately disclosed, but the size of the debt is reported to be between 250 million and 280 million pounds ($397 million and $445 million).
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Liverpool, which has a huge fan base around the world, is currently owned by two Americans, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They took out loans in the club's name to buy it in February 2007.
But as Liverpool's position in the English Premier League has slipped, the owners have become targets for angry fans. Liverpool failed to qualify for this season's lucrative European Champions' League and the team is currently 18th out of 20 in the English league after seven matches -- the worst start to a season for decades.
Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton said the board had met with NESV representatives over the past several weeks in Boston, London and Liverpool. He praised the company's vision for the English team.
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"NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at Red Sox," Broughton said.
He revealed problems the board has had with Hicks and Gillett, saying the pair tried "everything" to prevent the sale.
Coppied by http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/10/06/liverpool.football.boston/index.html?hpt=Sbin
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