Season › 2022-23 › News The Rumour Mill 777 Partners emerge as favourites in Everton takeover bid Lyndon Lloyd | 13/05/2023 34comments | Jump to last Updated 777 Partners now appear to be most likely among the entities interested in a takeover of Everton, moving ahead of MSP Capital who were reportedly seeking only a 25% stake in the club. A report by Italian website Tuttomercatoweb.com on 24th April was the first to suggest that the Miami-based investment firm had intensified contacts in recent days for the acquisition of the Blues from Farhad Moshiri and now Paul The Esk has tweeted to the same effect. He says that "it looks increasingly likely 777 will be acquiring Moshiri's 94.1% stake once our Premier League status (i.e. survival or relegation) is confirmed". 777 Partners' interest in Everton was first mooted by The Athletic in February at a time when MSP Capital were said to have cooled their interest. The latter reportedly revived talks over an initial £105m investment and, at one stage, appeared close to an agreement with Moshiri. Article continues below video content Now, however, despite conflicting reports in recent days from what The Esk described as credible sources, it seems as though 777 are the firm most likely to do a deal. Led by managing partners Steven Pasko and Josh Wander, 777 Partners have interests in Sevilla in La Liga, Genoa in Italy's Serie B, Vasco de Gama in Brazil, Standard Liege in Belgium and Red Star in France while they recently took a controlling interest in Hertha Berlin in Germany. Reader Comments (34) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Alan Johnson 1 Posted 24/04/2023 at 11:50:24 Anybody got any info on the Twitter talk: 777 Partners takeover? Gerry Quinn 2 Posted 24/04/2023 at 12:03:25 https://www.getfootballnewsitaly.com/2023/777-partners-close-to-everton-takeover/ Barry Hesketh 3 Posted 24/04/2023 at 12:06:09 Gerry and AlanI think it's quite possible that the Italian journalist who tweeted this may have confused Investment with a Full takeover, we'll have to wait to see exactly how accurate this tweet may be, but I wouldn't have thought that 777 would manage a 'takeover' but may invest in the club to help with the stadium funding.Having said that it might be a full blown takeover given On 22 February 2022 it was announced that 777 Partners, a Miami-based private investment firm founded by Steven W. Pasko and Josh Wander, bought a controlling stake in Vasco da Gama. According to the terms of the deal, 777 Partners acquired a 70% stake in the club which was valued at approximately $330 million.[33]On 6 November 2022, Vasco sealed their return to Série A, after a two-year absence. Plus they own shares in other football clubs too. Larry O'Hara 4 Posted 25/04/2023 at 10:49:28 If they are successful, then 777 (a powerful Kabbalah number) will be involved in a tussle with 666 Partners (Kenwright and flunkeys). Fascinating… David Israel 5 Posted 25/04/2023 at 11:20:56 Let's hope they nail it soon! Paul Hewitt 6 Posted 25/04/2023 at 11:22:15 Alan Myers saying there are 5 bids in for Everton. Barry Hesketh 7 Posted 25/04/2023 at 12:04:41 As Paul @6 posted, Alan Myers has tweeted:Everton have a number of investment options on the table, as they look to secure funding for their new stadium completion.Miami based 777 partners, who are interested in taking a larger stake in the club, along with previously reported MSP Capital are both being considered by Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.It's believed MSP are the more likely option with another three parties also interested, a decision is expected soon. Dale Self 8 Posted 25/04/2023 at 12:12:32 Actual bids from parties with other sports holdings jumping over each others' positions. Now let's have a fresh look at the timing and content of the angry chairman. Hmmmm… not good, dude, and you've been given plenty of a lead to get it together, maaan. Paul Hewitt 9 Posted 25/04/2023 at 12:17:17 I think Bill knows he's getting the boot soon. That letter was his last shot at the fans I would think. James Marshall 10 Posted 25/04/2023 at 12:33:29 I have full and unequivocal faith in Moshiri to make the wrong decision. Barry Rathbone 11 Posted 25/04/2023 at 12:51:23 Tend to agree that "investment" is being misconstrued as "takeover" either way it's all very tepid. Joe McMahon 12 Posted 25/04/2023 at 13:14:15 It's got to the stage I don't care who buys us as long as they have very big pockets, get rid of the underperforming pitiful board and replace with 21st Century business acumen. Francis van Lierop 13 Posted 25/04/2023 at 13:25:44 Completely agree with you Joe @12.We've had enough of the decades of mediocrity lead by that narcissist. Barry Hesketh 14 Posted 25/04/2023 at 13:27:46 It looks as if we can put this on the back burner for now, as Alan Myers has said in a reply to a question "...that these things take time and we'll all know by the end of next month."Back to fretting about the only important issue for now, how are we going to get the necessary points from the last six games? Jerome Shields 15 Posted 25/04/2023 at 13:39:09 'MSP appear to be the major interested party, and it is thought they are close to concluding a deal to assist in the funding of the stadium. It is thought that this support would be in the order of 𧴜 million. Although no details are in the public domain, it is thought that this deal would be a debt deal – debt that attracts interest and is repayable over an agreed period. In addition, MSP would have warrants which would permit them an equity stake at some point in the future – a fairly standard form of funding.' — Paul the EskI don't think any deal is going to be a straight forward change of ownership. All negotiation seems to be around the funding of the stadium and JPMorgan and Mitsubishi Bank have been tasked with securing finance for sometime. In the case of 777 Partners, involvement would be more likely to be in this context.The only believable part of Chairman Bill's letter is his attempt to tag on to being involved in sourcing finance for the new stadium. Brian Hennessy 16 Posted 25/04/2023 at 13:57:32 I think any investment from 777 Partners would be a huge upgrade on 666 True Blue Holdings. Robert Tressell 17 Posted 25/04/2023 at 14:08:43 Whoever "wins" the takeover / investment drive it looks like our future lies as part of an international group of clubs. There is a strong logic to that but it won't please everyone. Champions League royalty all have either vast wealth or (like Bayern, Barca and Real) B-teams in the lower leagues.Many use the loan system to enable a player development (everyone from Juve to Brighton). Others have tie ups / affiliations with other clubs - like the RB Leipzig empire, and the people who own Watford and other clubs.This is the direction of travel for those without vast wealth or a B team. It enables the club to circumvent the unsustainable transfer market and develop a stable of players in house who can be shifted from one club to another at more sustainable cost.The association with Vasco de Gama is interesting certainly, long term. I hope that investment is earmarked for the local academy too. Eric Myles 18 Posted 25/04/2023 at 14:46:24 As Alan Myers has said in a reply to a question "...that these things take time and we'll all know by the end of next month."In other words, it's dependent on what league we are in since it will be all over by then. Bobby Mallon 19 Posted 25/04/2023 at 18:42:13 This is all about investment in the ground. Not about a take over. There is shit loads of money to be made with the ground build and surrounding area and Moshiri doesn't give a fuck what league we are in. The team come second to the ground. We won't be sold but the new ground will get new investment. Robert Tressell 20 Posted 25/04/2023 at 18:52:30 Bobby # 19, You might be right but my take is that Moshiri has the stadium side of things sorted (and apart from vanity appearances on Talksport that's all he was ever interested in) Inward investment is rumoured from people who run sports businesses – multiple clubs and even multiple sports. These people see the sporting side of things as the opportunity as that's how they make their money generally. I'm hoping that's the case anyway… Eric Myles 21 Posted 25/04/2023 at 00:00:28 Robert #20, the way I read it is that, yes, there's potential investors that are in the sports business.They will loan money to Moshiri for the stadium funding and take over the running of the club. Using their sports business expertise, they will transform the club's fortunes and, if successful, will convert their loan into equity in the Club and make their money from the increased value.If the club is fucked beyond repair, they make their money from the loan interest only. Gerry Morrison 22 Posted 26/04/2023 at 03:24:07 Larry (4): That gave me a good laugh, thanks. John Raftery 23 Posted 26/04/2023 at 16:13:46 How much of this is real? There are dozens of speculators supposedly interested in buying football clubs. Few of them have the money ready to hand but purport to know someone who has. Even fewer have the expertise to run a football club, especially one which has been in serious decline for the past decade. I sincerely hope we are not about to jump from the frying pan into the fire. Selling the club, or a significant part of it, is fraught with risk as other clubs have found. Michael Kenrick 26 Posted 30/04/2023 at 08:40:55 An update on this from a supposed ITK journalist, Paul Brown:Brown said: "There were reports in Italy that 777 were interested or close to a takeover of the club. I think that's massively overstated. I know Everton have spoken to this group several times. I don't believe a full takeover was ever on the table with them."They are not significant investors in sport in the way that you would expect from people who want to take over and run a club completely in the Premier League."I understand they value the club far below what Moshiri does and that the chances of them investing in Everton are quite slim at the moment."It's not expected from within Everton that a deal is going to be done there at the moment."I would think everyone understands – given the massive uncertainty of our predicament – that there will likely be no takeover before our fate is decided. Colin Glassar 27 Posted 30/04/2023 at 09:27:51 'Maskirovka' is the Russian word for distraction or deception. Over the years, Everton have become masters of this strategy. Stadium updates, possible exciting transfers, investments, 150-point plans for improvement etc….Whenever things are dark (and they are pitch black right now) trust Everton to leak “news†to keep the mob happy and well, distracted. James Hughes 28 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:17:56 It seems investemnt is due shortly, according to Paul Joyce: Everton Blue Army Twitter account Tony Everan 29 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:26:50 Everton are set to announce investment in the club before the end of the 2022-23 season, which will bring what has been described as an “enormous amount of capitalâ€. (Source: @_pauljoyceThanks for the link James, Liking the word ‘enormous'. As long as it is spent wisely! Because this one comes from a mainstream, well-connected journalist, it's worth keeping an eye on. Barry Hesketh 30 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:37:32 James and Tony,That 'tweet' if it's even from Joyce's official account, according to The Esk, is just a re-hash of news from earlier this year from Paul Joyce's column in the Times. I saw it the other day and given that there hasn't been much chat about it, I didn't bother linking it, because it seems both the terminology and the veracity of it are both exaggerated.Everton Blue Army, among many other EFC-related Twitter accounts, never seem to fact-check what they publish and blindly link stories that may or may not be true. When I checked Paul Joyce's public tweets the other day, nothing could be found in relation to this particular story. He may well have privately published a tweet about investment, but I don't believe he has. It's probably one of those fake accounts that love to cause a stir. Paul Hewitt 31 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:37:57 Tony. I've been hearing that for months. Don't hold your breath. Tony Everan 32 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:42:20 Yes It seems like it's older news, and the enormous capital is what Moshiri himself will have to put in, if anything happens. So the tweet isn't all that. Seems to indicate MSP IS still the preferred investor, but surely now they will be waiting for some kind of certainty of our status.Joyce writes in The Times (1 May): “Moshiri is familiar with MSP Sports Capital, while 777 Partners is among the alternatives, with the British-Iranian businessman prepared to include what has been described as an “enormous amount of capital†to secure a deal.“He regards the completion of the new stadium as transformational and, perhaps for him, the priority…“A financial deal has been close for some time and is still expected to be announced before the end of the season, despite the threat of relegation.†James Hughes 33 Posted 04/05/2023 at 10:57:05 Barry,Thanks for clarification, even if it deflated me slightly. Some good news would have defo been welcome. Dane Munro 35 Posted 14/05/2023 at 22:29:00 Never mind, 'get rid of the underperforming pitiful board', how about getting rid of these largely underperforming pitiful player's?I've seen more desire in a wet sock. Greg Nelli 36 Posted 15/05/2023 at 02:09:52 If man is 5 and the devil is 6 that must make our new overlords 7.This monkey's gone to heaven.But seriously, dependent on Premier League survival, do we know if it is scuppered if we get relegated? Because if it was me, relegation would likely reduce the asking price, many of the bloated contracts are likely to move on, plus parachute payments might actually make it a buyer's deal, and reconstruction more achievable by the new ownership.Clearly the prefence is to stay in the Premier League; I'm just talking from a buyer's point of view.Oh btw, G'day from Perth, Western Australia. Kieran Kinsella 37 Posted 24/05/2023 at 16:56:41 Paul Brown linking several articles related to 777. The Liege coach is set to walk as they've failed to produce promised transfer funds.Vasco da Gama fans are organizing protests against 777 asking "Where is the money" the group were supposed to produce.And the Bundesliga are investigating Hertha's ownership structure. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW Find out how to browse ad-free and support ToffeeWeb © ToffeeWeb