Everton FC Share Auction opens next week

Back in September 2023, some reports said 777 would pay Farhad Moshiri around £500M for his 94.1% stake in the company. That would have worked out as £3,936.05 for each of his 127,031 shares — remarkably close to the £3,700 price set by Asset Match in their last auction at around that time.

That last price would set the value of the club at £499½M.

But a lot of sewage-impacted water has gone under the bridge since then, and a recent story claimed that 777 Partners were actually going to pay Farhad only £64M for his shares — a paltry £504.81 per share!

That would value the company at a mere £68M.

However, Paul Quinn now says that The Friedkin Group will give only a "minimum consideration" for Moshiri's shares — perhaps £25M — valuing the company at around £26½M, and pushing the share price down to an astounding £196.80!!!

What an incredible feat of destruction to decimate the apparent value of the company so much in such a short period of time.

It makes you wonder about the motivation here to presumably sell your Everton shares.

I missed the earlier auction late last year, which was before the points deductions, but the threat of the independent commission was real enough, and the 777 Partners bid had just been announced.

It will be intriguing to see how many shares are put up for sale by the minority shareholders, and what price they will be selling for.

Surely these numbers grossly undervalue EFC with the opening of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock now less than 6 months away and construction pressing on apace. That alone should push the value to around £1B — and a much much more robust individual share value of £7,407!!!

The minority shareholders used to get pretty significant perks but these were steadily and consistently eroded to virtually nothing under Kenwright.

I'm not sure they get any kind of ticket preferences any more.

I can't imagine many wanting to sell for less than the most recent listed transactions of around £3,500, but could be wrong. Cost of living crisis etc?

Michael, I posted a part of an article some time back that included that figure, it stated Moshiri would receive £64M to £130M depending on conditions.

However it was quoting a sum Moshiri himself would trouser, not the total purchase value and if you think about it, if the value of the Club would only equate to £68M in those circumstances then why put in £200M to keep it going?

The only ticket preference is a small pot of away game tickets. It works in conjunction with the general away games points system so, if you're a new shareholder, you'd need to be near the top of the points table to get an away ticket to Bournemouth, Luton etc or an away derby match.

I found your earlier post on this article, thanks: Approval for 777 Partners' Everton takeover rests on 'stringent conditions' — 24 March 2024

"If the value of the Club would only equate to £68M in those circumstances, then why put in £200M to keep it going?"

To me, there are many puzzles about why Moshiri is selling, why he doesn't do everything to hang on, because the upside — if only they (whoever) can keep the show on the road — appears to be potentially massive.

To me, the club as a Premier League entity should have substantial intrinsic value, primarily in terms of future income. In our case, compounded by the opening of a new stadium.

To me, it's the prospect of jam tomorrow that justifies £200M to keep the lights on.

But the short-term debt and the horrific interest rates, compounded by the huge fiscal management failure (note: EFC culpable, not the Premier League) that precipitated the PSR breaches and the points deductions which have dragged us down to the gutter.

This situation, and Moshiri's desire to cut and run, appears to have him accepting a derisory and laughably small valuation for his shares.

The auction is a sideshow, totally separate from the main deal of the takeover; but nevertheless, it will be intriguing to see what value this likely small number of shares are traded at. And if a lot of £200 low bids force that ultimate price way down…

Any Board overseeing such a drop in the share price would be sacked. Ah, now I remember… we have already done that.

More seriously, it seems to me, unless they are really desperate to bring in a few quid, a bad idea for a minority shareholder to sell at this point with so much uncertainty still dragging the price down.

The prospects may look considerably brighter in the autumn if the Friedkin deal goes through.

These tickets, when they were available, also were at normal rate, so no privileged rates.

I do hope when the take-over is eventually completed, that EFC take a long look at their neglected commercial (virtually non-existent) aspect. No Everton TV, merchandise limitations etc.

I often go to an open-air (weekly) market. There is a stall there selling all football towels, souvenirs and memorabilia. Guess what? You can get virtually all the top clubs except Everton!

Kenwright has held us back so much over his unfortunate Chairmanship, and just concentrated on what was best for him!

Everton have never had products available at any commercial retail outlet that I can recall.

My mum used to get The Catalogue (which helped me through my puberty years… ahem)… Where was I? Oh yes,
You could get Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Man Utd, Celtic, Rangers and no one else.

Bear in mind the home business city for The Catalogue was Liverpool and apparently some of them were involved at the club. I found it odd and sad. Even at tender years, I couldn't believe Everton gear was not available. A feat that the club have carried forwards gloriously to today. Across every available global outlet.

Everton are inter-galactically shit commercially. Even through the golden years. They went to Australia a couple of years back to play some promotional exhibition games, sporting "The new kit"… The club took no merchandise with them. Staggering.

They could have easily absorbed excess baggage costs by telling the kit manufacturers that this was a promo gig so give us hundreds free.

As for the dead one. That hypocritical slime-skinned toad was not unfortunate. There are many many literary soliloquys out there but unfortunate aint one.

As Professor John Cooper Clarke wrote and recited:-

What kind of creature bore you?
Was it some kind of bat?
They can't find a good word for you.
But I can… TWAT!!!!

"Bear in mind the home business city for The Catalogue was Liverpool" — and wasn't it The Littlewoods Catalogue to boot?

I think Gratton possibly was too??? Or am I thinking of the Grafton, which certainly didn't offer anything via catalogue or, if they did, it wasn't legal.

Everton are the worst Premier League (previously 1st Division) club from every financial angle you can think of… in history.

I have never understood what the hell previous owners and board members were ever thinking of, certainly not promoting the club. That includes all incumbents prior to the dead one and hamper man.

I have never seen anything positive come out from that cobwebbed boardroom frequented by the Miss Haversham-Lookalike types. Never anything universally commercial.

There may have been a slight blip in the '70s which became a calamity in the mid-'80s when accidental success was stumbled upon.

The club have always been run by the stuffed arsehole brigade since as long as I've been around. Faceless. Hidden. Taking profits but never interested in club matters further than their dividends.

Then, due to age rather than prosperity, they sold Everton down the Mersey to Hamper Man. He must have laughed and skipped with glee knowing that the dead one was gonna slowly grind the crumbling club into dust.

If we ever get new owners who actually give a shit, then sack everyone connected with revenue streams and selling the brand. You will save a fortune coz they ain't bringing a penny into the club other than home match days… and that sells itself.

Rant over.

Last time I asked the shareholder liaison officer for a ticket for an away game, she had been given only 8 for a particular game, I think it was Burnley. I had to wear a flat cap and sit with the pie-eaters.

"I wonder if this news will have an effect on the shares auction that's happening?"

So that got me curious to check, and I see that they have the Order Book open, and it's quite surprising to me, because the price spread for each Everton share is from £3,200 to £4,000!!!

So I think the short answer is No. The shareholders involved, mostly sellers, seem to be keen to cash in at below the previous £3,700 price point — but not by much — while two outliers are looking for a big return at that upper £4,000 price point.

So far 56 shares put up for sale, with two buyers offering £3,600 (19 shares) and £3,800 (4 shares) respectively.

But I think the way this works, the algorithm drives the auction to a median price that balances supply and demand (presumably at the indicated £3,500?) — which presumably then applies to all the buy and sell orders after the auction closes, regardless of individual bids?

I don't suppose you can put a floor value on your shares, once offered for sale, and stop them from selling below a certain price?

The price is down a little from the previous auction, £3,700 — possibly reflecting sellers pricing their shares a little lower to produce some cash, especially if they are feeling the pinch of inflation and higher living costs in the last couple of years.

But the interest shown to buy shares at such a price defies any rational analysis of the current state of business for the corporate entity that is Everton Football Club Co Ltd — and the dire fiscal projections that have been spouted on an almost daily basis by various knowledgable persons.

With Farhad Moshiri apparently prepared to accept a token amount for his 127,031 Everton shares so that he can walk away… but with risk aversion rampant among prospective buyers, no-one apparently prepared to give him anything for his vast number of shares, it remains for me at least a very strange case of cognitive dissonance!

Or simply a statement of faith and belief in the club for Blues who value the cachet of owning Everton Shares as they look forward to the new era in the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock?

You're right with regards to how the auction works, people bidding above the median £3.5k will buy at that price and people selling below the same - median being the price at which most shares will trade.

The £3.5k should arguably be higher if the price last year was £3.7k given we avoided relegation despite points deductions, are 10 months nearer to completing the stadium and have numerous (supposedly) interested parties looking to buy us.

But then again, the £3.7k last year doesn't make sense….

No doubt in business terms, there is a massive chunk of invaluable 'goodwill' involved from Blue buyers who have a huge emotional investment in the football club.

And as long as there are others who will pay the asking price, long may it continue.