Liverpool were last night preparing to enter an uncertain period of coalition ownership after Dubai International Capital (DIC) agreed a deal to buy 49 per cent of the club, with Tom Hicks securing the additional 1 per cent that he needs to earn majority control.

George Gillett Jr, who bought Liverpool with Hicks just 13 months ago, has agreed to sell his 50 per cent share in the club, but, rather than sell the entire stake to DIC, he will sell 1 per cent of the company to Hicks. The deal allows Hicks to assume majority control, although DIC, the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai Government, remains confident that it will ultimately buy him out.

The compromise agreement, which will be finalised at a meeting in Dubai next week, was accepted by DIC last night after talks between Amanda Staveley, its representative in London, and lawyers for both Hicks and Gillett. In a statement last night Staveley said: “Subject to renegotiation of a partnership agreement and subject to the stringent minority shareholder protection rights we would be prepared to accept a 49 per cent shareholding in Liverpool FC. This arrangement provides the best possible solution to the situation and would be in the best interests of the club and their loyal fans.”

Liverpool’s supporters are likely to have mixed feelings about the partnership, which some Anfield officials had described as a “nightmare scenario”. In theory it means that Hicks will call the shots in the boardroom, but DIC is determined to exert its influence, having indicated that it will conduct a review of all aspects of the club. Staveley, a senior partner of the PCP private equity firm, and Sameer al-Ansari, the chief executive, are expected to be among those joining the board, with Gillett and his son, Foster, likely to depart.

Liverpool attempt to focus on on-field matters this afternoon against Newcastle United in the Barclays Premier League and, with Michael Owen returning to Anfield as captain of the visiting side, it is hard to say which he will find most unsettling: the admission from Rafael Benítez yesterday that he was on a list of potential signings last summer or the uncomfortable knowledge that the Liverpool manager was right to go with his instincts and opt for Fernando Torres instead.

“We know that Michael is a brilliant finisher, but we were looking for a player with the conditions of Torres, a player with pace and power,” Benítez said. “We had a list of ten strikers and he [Owen] was one of the names we had. Afterwards we decided that Torres was the No 1 priority. It is obvious we are happy with Torres.”