Lord Grabiner QC and Erskine Chambers' Richard Snowden QC have secured a High Court victory in the Liverpool takeover battle after the presiding judge ruled that the club's £300m sale to New England Sport Ventures (NESV) can proceed.

Mr Justice Floyd handed down his judgment this morning in favour of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Liverpool's main creditor, which is owed around £280m by US owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Freshfields advised RBS with Snowden instructed as counsel.

Snowden argued in court that Hicks and Gillett had gone against contractual undertakings by attempting to oust two members of the board to retain control of the club, a move which prompted RBS to obtain an injunction preventing such a move.

Justice Floyd this morning granted the mandatory injunction to RBS, meaning the sale to NESV can now go ahead.

The £300m takeover offer by US sports group NESV was accepted by the club's board last week, although Paul Girolami QC of Maitland Chambers, representing Hicks and Gillett, argued that the board had excluded the US owners from the sale negotiations and refused to take into account alternative bids.

The Liverpool board was represented in court by Lord Grabiner QC, who disputed the claim that the owners were excluded from the sales agreement and asserted instead that they had refused to take part.

A raft of legal advisers have taken roles in the long-running takeover saga, including Macfarlanes, Slaughter and May, Peters & Peters, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Shearman & Sterling.