Gillett and Hicks 'turn down' Dubai consortium's offer for Liverpool

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The offer, said to be £400 million, was turned down, a person involved with the negotiations told the Associated Press news agency. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Hicks "turned down their offer immediately upon receipt," the person said. However, a separate source close to Hicks denied that he had formally rejected the offer but said he remains unwilling to sell his share in the club.

Gillett, whose relationship with Hicks has reportedly broken down, rejected DIC's bid because he believes the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai government underestimated the value of his 50 per cent stake. He was "low balled," the person said.

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Hicks (left) and Gillett: Liverpool's American owners are at cross purposes in dealing with Dubai consortium

DIC has given the Americans 24 hours to accept its offer, an executive working on the bid told the AP.

Earlier, a spokesman for Dubai International Capital had denied that a "time limit" has been put on their offer for Liverpool.

The spokesman, Jehad Saleh, insisted reports that DIC had given Gillett and Hicks a deadline of midnight tonight to accept an offer were not correct.

Gillett has been in close contact with DIC in recent weeks after deciding to end his troubled spell at Anfield.

Hicks, however, has said he is committed to retaining his share of Liverpool and can block Gillett from selling his stake. The Texan is also looking into buying all or part of Gillett's equal stake by raising private equity.

The DIC bid was made a day after chief executive Sameer al-Ansari said Hicks and Gillett had "come out of dreamland" over the worth of the Premier League club.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool for £218.9m in March 2007. This included an agreement to pay off about £45m of debt and a pledge to build and finance a new stadium.

Gillett and Hicks refinanced their Liverpool deal with a £350m package from two banks on Jan. 25. But the package left the 18-time English champions with debt of £105m.