Premier League decision on Everton takeover still 'weeks' away

Why the hell is it taking so long for approval of the 777 takeover? It beggars belief really. Whatever the outcome, we will always have the best club and the best fans in the world. Chin up fellow Blues.

If they approve it, I will be very worried indeed, and pull out of it, especially with the Premier League giving them the thumbs up.

The same with the overspends, it's not that complicated if they get all the facts and figures given to them promptly, surely to god.

I honestly hope we're trying like hell to find another buyer.

Call it a conspiracy or what you want but I think there are forces that want us out of the Premier League and Liverpool to become a one-team city.

I'm convinced this is pure politics, Ukraine et al. We could well end up being the sacrificial lamb to give one of Putin's mates one last bloody nose. Ain't that grand.

If 777 Partners aren't approved, which in itself I would be in favour of, administration has to be a real possibility.

Spot on, some people won't believe something that is staring them right in the face.

Whatever punishment the Premier League throw at us, if they relegate us to the Northern Premier League, this city will never, ever, be a one-club city. 40,000 will still turn up if we are playing Prescott Cables or Marine.

Everton are our team, will always be, and that will never change despite the best efforts of the corrupt Premier League.

We shall not be moved.
COYB

Yard dogs – I never wanted them.

Don't know what happens next (administration?) but we stand together! Sorry if I've been misled re this – any more news?

They may now pull out of the Everton deal.

This will allow other consortiums to have a look at us if, as has been reported, they do exist and Tony (A) has been right all along.

Wouldn't it be nice if we just plodded along, kept our heads down, kept proper accounts, budgeted like all good housekeepers, had a nice big win now and then, met mates at the match, few bevvies, and kept out of the news for the most part?

Based in Bermuda. Can't find anything about administration yet.

1. Kidnap a journalist in an embassy, chop him into little pieces.

2. Secretly buy up houses around your ground and cynically run down the area and encourage local crime, then threaten the journalists who expose it.

3. Lump £1 billion worth of debt onto a profitable company for a leveraged purchase.

4. Set fire to a warehouse when you're looking to redevelop your stadium site with brand new stadium next door.

5. Launder a dictator's money.

6. Steal money from the Thailand government.

7. Oppress your own population and shoot refugees in the face.

8. Pretend it's not a state purchase by calling it a "sovereign wealth fund".

Is the source reliable? I would love this to be true.

Meanwhile, 777 Partners cannot keep funding Everton indefinitely without an answer. They seem to have other problems.

Maybe Paul the Esk is right on this one, that it will not go ahead. It occurred to me that Moshiri may be in a personal guarantee situation.

There may be some partial truth in Kevin's opinion.

I under your frustrations about the takeover over but just step back a bit. 777 Partners are a seemingly slimy outfit. Just look at what's happening with their other clubs and court cases.

Why are we happy to be in bed with them? I'm glad the Premier League are looking into these properly.

The latest news on 777 Partners (not Re) is from yesterday, 15 January. It's about their 2 main money sources being under investigation. No idea if you've read it or not:

Endgame – Josimar Football

Seriously, this is all moving at a glacial pace, and even if 777 folds their hand or is shot down by the Premier League, it's likely it won't happen in the next 2 weeks. And both Thelwell and Dyche have said straight out that this window will be inactive for us.

So unless something tectonic happens, I'd say Onana, Branthwaite and Pickford are going nowhere right now.

Moshiri has been silent and absent but, if he's not careful, we'll end up in administration which would be bad for him and disastrous for us.

He needs to stop chasing the highest offer and just sell to people who can actually get the deal done. Pronto.

The Everton takeover faces ‘another red flag' as 777 Partners are hit with a new £24million lawsuit.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that 777 being accused of more unpaid fees is not surprising.

As reported by Reuters, three aircraft lessors have sued 777 Partners for $30million (£24million) for missed payments.The US group agreed a deal with Farhad Moshiri to buy his majority 94 percent stake in Everton back in September, but they are still awaiting approval from the Premier League.

They have since provided over £140million in loans to the Merseyside club to help with stadium fees and operating costs.

Maguire believes 777 Partners are ‘haemorrhaging money' from their previous football investments.

Another day, another debt appears to be the motto of 777 Partners” Maguire told Football Insider's Sean Fisher.

“The issues with regards to their unpaid leasing fees come as no surprise given the company's background in aviation, which is a struggling industry at present.

“Their football operations have failed to turn around any of the struggling clubs they initially acquired and therefore they're haemorrhaging money as well.

“I think it is another red flag and there are a lot of concerned people, both supporters and elsewhere, who are very wary about 777's ability to raise funds.

If you wrote a book about Everton surely it would reside in the horror section but it would all be true.

It's interesting with Moshiri. Is he out of cash? Is he holding out for an unrealistic deal

? Or has he resigned himself to losing his Everton money so doesn't want to lose even more?

I keep reading posts like this but, as far as I have read anywhere, there is no reason to believe Moshiri is now penniless or unable to get finance.

I've been working on the assumption that he was simply allowing 777 to take over the financial responsibilities for the club because they had an agreed price in place and it would allow them to demonstrate their commitment to preserving the club's status.

Perhaps someone who really knows could chip in to make it all clear?

Whatever his original net worth – I think it was quoted as around $1.9B – he's probably lost more than half of that, and lost his 2 allies, shady backer and the chancer. He probably doesn't have the same misty-eyed emotions towards the club right now, and I'm frankly concerned about what happens next.

They say it's darkest just before dawn. Nobody strike a match please, just in case he's doused the whole lot with petrol...

Moshiri isn't penniless, but his net worth will have shrunk since its height, he apparently has a lot of money tied up by sanctions on USM and he has pumped well over three quarters of a billion quid into Everton.

On that basis, he has drawn the purse strings tight and won't be putting any more money in if he can help it. If the 777 takeover falls through, however, he will have some big calculations to make.

Because there is no public AGM since, there is no legal requirement for him or Everton to disclose this. But it still is a requirement under Profitability and Sustainability Rules. So there is a Personal guarantee involved for Moshiri.

I also don't believe that it is Moshiri's decision what he does. 777 Partners are that dodgy that, via nominee and offshore companies, it will never be known who their ultimate owners are. Actually they seem run pretty well – the same way Everton are – and Moshiri might as well be sanctioned as a mate of Putin, such is the cost to him of his current predicament.

The real way to sort out the Premier League is to make the clubs involved provide for a fund for clubs who get into difficulty, instead of a neverending chasing after more money..

I think he's still got a fair chunk of change in his skyrocket but that the latter two are definitely true.

Strange to think that he may simultaneously be the person who delivered us our long awaited modern, well-executed stadium and be the ruin of this football club.

I'll be honest, I don't want 777 Partners anywhere near our club; they are dodgy American financiers who have no interest in football clubs or their supporters other than as an asset to leverage further loans against.

If their attempted takeover of Everton is blocked (and I hope it will be), their loans to the club to finance the day-to-day running of the club will cease, we won't be able to meet our financial obligations, and will go into administration and possibly cease to exist as the Everton we know. It may be even worse if they demand the instant repayment of the loans they have made.

Where is Moshiri in all this? I have no idea but, if he does allow the club to go into administration, he stands to lose the greater part of his investment.

So the big question for me is, will he be willing to take such a massive financial hit or will he decide to continue financing day-to-day running costs at least until the new stadium is completed?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Of course we need new ownership as a matter of urgency, but we cannot just grasp at the first straw that comes along. The precedent is the Glazers' takeover of Man Utd.

From a club with zero debt in 2004 (? I think) when the Glazers took over, to something like £500 million in debt today, most of it leveraged against the club's assets and the gamble that its value was going to increase year on year.

What has the club got to show for it today? A ground desperately in need of repair and development and a team struggling in the Premier League with Iittle chance of Champions League football next season while the Glazers take £20-£30 million out in dividends each year!

My only hope is that, if any new potential owners do step up, they are of the less predatory kind who have a genuine interest in football and not just treat the club as an ATM.

Maybe a consortium of local business people who have the interests of Everton and their supporters at heart?

I know this is pie in the sky and probably a bit naive of me but it's being so cheerful keeps me going! Danny, how do you do it???

Like you've pointed out, we're at the mercy of those with money, whether it's their own or someone elses.

I haven't any faith at all, that local businesses exist with the capital or the interest in buying our club. Otherwise, I'd have thought they'd have been in already.

I think the die was cast when we sold our soul to the Devil by contributing to the forming of the Premier league. It literally is the super league already. as, except for the odd cup winner, or extremely rare League Championship, going to anyone outside those who are successful already; with Chelsea first, then City and Newcastle and any other club swallowed up.

We missed our chance when Kenwright offered Sheik Mansour only the same terms as Moshiri. An investorship, not an ownership, with Kenwright staying as Chairman.

When it comes to it all, we will always be Evertonians...as long as there's an Everton to support!!!

I suppose now it depends can our new King's Council sort out the Gordian Knot that our club helped form.

Moshiri wont cut off his nose to spite his face he will probably have to sell at a rock bottom price, hopefully to someone with serious money.

It needs to happen quickly or it appears theres every chance we could go bust.

All this stuff must be messing with the players, the managers and staffs heads, although it is not apparent yet.

I still believe that Moshiri could continue and ride out the storm rather than give it away, after all, he has everything to lose if he does.

Continuing to fund the club until all the controversy has gone will be clear water and a better end price for him. He is, in fact, in it too deep to take a bath.

The devil and the deep blue sea, 777 or Masters & Co.. . no good choice for Moshiri or the club, but he could continue to fund or lose his investment completely... Billionaires have a very different risk profile than us ordinary mortals, win some, lose some.

Not verified at all- my partner mentioned that they had read a journalistic source on X and when I tried to check I could not find it.

I hope I have not set any hares running here but it seems to fit with what some reliable regular commentators are referring to above… and many seem to agree with the opinion that 777 Partners could possibly be described as a gang of raggle-taggle yard dogs.

"Newcastle chairman Al-Rumayyan faces $74m lawsuit for ‘carrying out' malicious instructions of Bin Salman"

Link (behind paywall)

Be careful what we wish for...

Re your comment of billionaires have a different risk profile than us mortals.

We keep hearing he is trying to sell Everton to regain some of the investment he has put into the club, and people think he is broke.

Like any other business person he doesn't want to loose any money and that is why he is trying to sell his shares, most probably for more than he paid for them.

I agree that he should stop trying to sell the club or his shares to 777 Partners and look for a more reputable take over company or individual.

According to Forbes, yesterday (16 January 2024), his net worth is listed as $3.1B and that is close to over a billion more than when he first bought his shares to take over the club.

Moshiri is not going to go broke by any means. I think as you say, he may just lose the value of the investment he has put into the club.

Just going to break into my investments and buy a ham sandwich from the local store.

Go and get yourself a proper CEO, not some ex-charity worker. A proper chairman and board. Then keep your nose out of the football side and just sign the cheques.

He must rue the day he was charmed (as so many were before him) by a teary handshake and a couple of tickets to see Blood Brothers.

Still, at least he knows he was done by The Master. He can't even threaten him with a pair of concrete boots, Bill has made his escape.

Does anyone think these con men are the answer? Yeah we might go into administration with no new owners but I suspect with them it will be administration plus all kinds of lawsuits.

Your argument may have held water if Moshiri had not kept appointing the "wrong men" over and over...

“One for Everton fans concerned about who will own their club. Interview here with Isaac Hayden who claims he left Standard Liege over unpaid wages and will start legal action to get monies owed. Another fine mess for the good folk at 777 Partners.”

Link

According to The Athletic, 777 Partners toured the stadium last Sunday. I keep asking myself whose US$160 million is it that 777 Partners have loaned Everton up to now.

I would have thought that, whoever's money it is, they must think it is a good bet – which raises for me another question: Why?

One thing I am absolutely sure of, despite all the chaos – that stadium will be completed.

Therefore, Everton should launch legal action against the Premier League regarding their failure to conduct their inquiries into our supposed transgressions and our new ownership.

We have players that we need to tie into new contracts and our transfer business is obviously affected because we cannot guarantee any certainty into any future dealings. The Premier Leaague cannot have its own way over everything that we do. Take them to court and force their hand.

Latest news re 777 takeover that has popped up.

Good news, another approximate £13m invested by 777 to keep the lights on

The Bad news, it appears there is an 'inside track' saying the takeover won't be approved;

Sky Sports reporter drops important 777 Partners update at Everton

Yes, I saw that over the weekend. Since the extra money seemed to be another (relatively small) installment of an ongoing story that we have covered extensively already, I wasn't convinced it warranted a new thread.

And as for the tacked-on claim of doom… supposed freelance journos in the know seem to have been falling over themselves for weeks telling anyone who would listen that the 777 Partners takeover will not be approved.

It might not be… but let's just wait and see, shall we, before we go into yet another meltdown?