August 13 – Eagle Holdings owner John Textor has reconfirmed his interest in Premier League Everton, describing the club as a “great, authentic English club”.
Having originally expressed interest when the 777 Partners deal for the club fell through, he said that he doubted he would have enough to complete a deal as to do that he would need to dispose of his 45% share in Crystal Palace to meet Premier League ownership rules.
However, the longer the Everton sales saga goes on, the greater the chance that he could come into the picture.
In July the Friedkin Group pulled out of a £400 million deal agreed in principle in June.
The US investors, who also own Serie A club Roma, had entered a period of exclusivity with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, but became increasingly concerned over the complications of Everton’s debt.
Friedkin had injected £200 million into the club that included paying off a £158 million loan to MSP Sports Capital and two local businessmen. That money was not repaid but turned Friedkin into a lender to the club.
The stumbling block for Friedkin is a further £200 million owned to previous prospective buyer 777 Partners who failed to compete their deal. It is a problem that has not been overcome.
777 Partners’ takeover had been backed by financial insurers A-Cap. A-Cap is facing legal action in the US by Leadenhall Capital Partners, a London-based investment firm. Leadenhall has accused 777 and A-Cap of fraud arguing that 777 borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars from Leadenhall secured on assets it had already used as security on other loans.
Leadenhall says 777 also used collateral it did not own to secure loans.
The result is that Everton is contingent on another party’s lawsuit unless a buyer is prepared to take the risk of being caught in any legal fallout or claim from that suit.
All of this plays into Textor’s hands if he is to mount a realistic bid, rather than just talk about one.
Textor already owns Lyon in…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2024/08/13/evertons-long-tailed-sale-keep-door-open-textors-eagle-holding-swoop/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2024-08-13 08:29:51
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