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Having acquired a majority stake in Everton back in 2016, Farhad Moshiri’s tumultuous time as owner of the club is nearing its end.
On Friday morning it was announced that Miami-based firm 777 Partners had agreed a deal with Moshiri to acquire his 94% shareholding in Everton, with talks having reached a positive conclusion for both parties after weeks of dialogue.
But there is still some road left to travel yet before 777 – who operate a multi-club portfolio through their ownership of other teams such as Genoa, Vasco da Gama, Red Star FC, Hertha Berlin and Standard Liege – take control of the Blues and bring an end to Moshiri’s time at Goodison Park.
The deal – where the finances involved in the acquisition have not been disclosed – now has to clear a number of hurdles before change is effected, with regulatory approval needed from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Ahead of any takeover deal being ratified, 777 Partners – who were founded in 2015 by Joshua Wander and Steven Pasko – will have to pass the Premier League’s ‘fit and proper persons test’, which will assess the suitability of their company directors to take control. That test will have to be satisfied with regards to the proof of funds for the transaction, as well as having to see a workable business plan for the next 12 months, and the financing required to underpin that.
777 have, in recent months, been the subject of scrutiny after allegations around some aspects of their previous business practice came to light in an article published by the investigative journalism website Josimar. Those allegations, which include fraud and failure to pay debts, have been refuted by 777, with a statement provided to the Telegraph earlier this month stating that “all cases cited have either been closed, dismissed or are being contested as baseless.”
Also a focus of the Josimar article was the 2003 conviction of Wander on drugs charges, to which he pleaded no contest, with his probationary period ending in 2018. The historic drug charges faced by Wander some 20 years ago are unlikely to be a barrier to acquiring the club, with the conviction now spent.
The process of gaining regulatory approval and passing the fit and proper persons test can take months, with 777 – who sources indicate are “very confident” of getting the green light for the deal from all the relevant bodies – aiming to conclude a deal before the end of the year.
But as well as satisfying the criteria for football club ownership set out by the Premier League, the deal will also have to gain approval from major creditors of the football club.
Moshiri’s controlling 94% stake in the club means that there is little minority shareholders can do to block any sale, but for creditors of the club they can raise objections should the terms of the takeover deal not agreeable.
Rights and Media Funding Limited have lent Everton tens of millions of pounds in recent years and had the power to block the deal that had been agreed earlier in the summer between MSP Sports Capital and Moshiri for the New York-based firm to take an equity stake in the football club. Rights and Media Funding had objected to the conditions of the deal with MSP. It was a development that saw Moshiri forced to go back to the drawing board and resume negotiations with 777 Partners, who had been in dialogue since early this year.
MSP could also object to the deal. The US firm provided £100m worth of loans to the holding company for the building of the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, with that money arriving in separate tranches during the summer. As creditors, both MSP and Rights and Media Funding could object to a deal or insist on being repaid the money owed, something that would then require 777 Partners to stump up a considerable amount of cash in order to overcome such an issue.
Sources close to 777 Partners insist that the firm would not have got so far in the takeover process without being confident that they could meet all of the demands required in order to take full control of the football club. The US firm stated that they won’t make any further comments in relation to the takeover until regulatory approval is granted.
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