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Prospective new owners are a light at the end of the tunnel for Everton

By BloggerPosted on Posted in Everton

Prospective new owners are a light at the end of the tunnel for Everton

For decades, Everton Football Club has underachieved. In more recent years, the Toffees have been fighting against relegation from the Premier League.

Everton’s recent financial crisis has cast a dark cloud over the club, a crisis largely attributed to the club’s leadership’s mismanagement. This mismanagement led to Everton’s violation of PSR rules, resulting in an eight-point deduction in season 2023/24.

A waste of nine months with 777

It is no secret that the club’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, has been looking to sell his 94.1 per cent shares for some time.

In 2023, he granted exclusivity to 777 Partners, an American investment firm. That meant they had time to complete the purchase of the club, with other interested parties unable to bid.

They invested money in the club to help with its day-to-day running and were expected to be Everton’s new owners. However, it was clear from the start that 777 was struggling to find the funds to buy into the club.

For eight months, the US group led by Josh Wander failed to give the Premier League the answers it needed for the sale to go through. The red flags over 777 had been there for some time, as they also owned other football clubs, some of which they had failed to fund properly.

The group’s exclusivity ended on 31st May 2024. They failed to provide the assurances needed to add Everton to their football harem of clubs. The whole debacle lasted nine months.

New buyers could bid

The end of the agreement with 777 Partners meant other interested parties could then make a play for the Merseyside giants. Despite reports suggesting there was very little interest in the club, many groups and individuals made a play for the club.

Suddenly, Everton was in demand. That was always likely to be the case, as Premier League clubs with such history and a brand new stadium on the horizon do not come up for sale very often.

The first to make their move was reportedly Crystal Palace majority shareholder John Textor. The US businessman stated his interest through the press.

However, his 45 per cent stake in Palace, which he would have to sell to complete the purchase of the Toffees, proved to be the final nail in his interest.

Evertonians and local businessmen George Downing and Andy Bell were also interested, but their bid would have been funded by a £ 350 million loan from BDT & MSD Partners.

The pair had already loaned the club £50m, but they never seemed able to provide the cash needed to help solve the club’s financial issues, including finishing Bramley Moore Stadium.

A lawyer based in London named Vatche Manoukian fronted another group that failed to gain exclusivity, while another rather unknown group, Vici Private Finance, reportedly also showed interest in purchasing the club.

An exclusivity deal is finally agreed

Last Friday, Moshiri finally agreed upon an exclusivity deal with the Friedkin Group, which is owned by billionaire US businessman Dan Friedkin.

Unlike some of the groups that showed an interest in or even bid for Everton, Friedkin seems to have the financial muscle to help the club out of crisis and the knowledge of running a football club.

The group already owns Italian giants Roma, who they acquired in 2020 from fellow US businessman Jim Pallotta. The Giallorossi were relatively successful on the pitch under Pallotta, but the club was reportedly in financial trouble.

Roma has remained relatively successful under the Friedkin Group, even if the club has not hit the same heights as under the previous regime. However, the Friedkin Group has stabilised the club’s finances off the pitch. The group also own fourth-tier French club Cannes.

With a personal fortune of £ 6.2 billion and an annual company revenue of £ 11 billion, unlike the likes of 777 Partners, Dan Friedkin and his group have the sort of money needed to rescue an ailing football club.

This is encouraging for Everton fans, as the Friedkin Group has the know-how and the financial muscle to awaken the sleeping giant that is Everton Football Club, which is what everybody associated with the Toffees had been hoping for in recent years.

It is unlikely that the takeover will collapse

The collapse of 777 Partners’ bid for Everton on 31st May 2024 could well be a massive blessing for Everton.

The Friedkin Group’s bid looks set to succeed, as they will likely pass all the tests necessary for the bid to go through. It may take time, maybe weeks or months, and nobody can be sure, but it seems the paperwork is formal.

They have to show that they can deal with the Toffees’ not-so-insignificant £600million debt. It has been revealed that the club’s likely new owners have already agreed to pay the £158million owed to MSP.

The club also still reportedly needs £ 200 million to finish Bramley Moore, as well as money owed to 777 financials A-Cap and mysterious Rights and Media Funding (RMF). The latter has already vetoed a bid from MSP for the club.

However, that is unlikely to happen again, as Friedkin is in a different stratosphere to 777 Partners or, indeed, MSP.

Everybody concerned with Everton wants to see a viable plan from the club’s perspective new owners to turn it around, both on and off the pitch.

Friedkin looks to be the right choice

Farhad Moshiri has made some woeful decisions during his ill-fated ownership of the Merseyside club. However, on paper, granting exclusivity to Friedkin is a wise choice.

For long-suffering Everton fans, the arrival of the club’s new owners may finally allow them to focus on what happens on the pitch rather than the finances of their beloved club.

The Friedkin Group will likely bring stability to the Toffees, which, for those fans, hopefully, will eventually bring success to the blue half of Merseyside.

Are the Friedkin Group the right people to turn Everton around?

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