Lawyers believe that legal arguments between Liverpool Football Club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and the three directors seeking to sell the club on behalf of RBS could take weeks to resolve.
"The usual maxim in selling anything is that it would be the owners of an asset that would need to approve the sale of it. However, the waters become muddied when other stakeholders are involved, like the debt providers in the LFC situation," said Daniel Liptrott, partner at Eversheds.
"At the very core of this dispute each director, three of which are not owners and two of which are shareholders, has to consider their duties as a director and whether they are being properly discharged. Another consideration will be the rights that have been given to the lenders over a number of re-financings, as well as how the LFC group of companies is structured, and as a result what rights have been given up by the owners."
When the chairman, Martin Broughton, was brought in at the behest of RBS in April, the bank – owed £237m – ensured that the balance of power on the board resided with Broughton, the managing director, Christian Purslow, and the commercial director, Ian Ayre.
They have argued that they have a duty to act in the best interests of the company and the principal lenders, while Gillett and Hicks have so far blocked any sale that does not return a substantial profit on their original investment.
Liptrott added: "As always, the devil is in the detail, and the banking documents will be scrutinised to see if there is any opportunity to mount a sustainable legal challenge, as well as different interpretations as to directors' duties. The only thing certain as a result of this latest development is that this will not be resolved overnight but will continue to be argued between legal advisers for some time to come."
