Updated The American billionaire John Textor, who currently owns Crystal Palace, has confirmed to the Daily Mirror his return to the negotiating table to put forward his bid that was rejected back in June in favour of The Friedkin Group.
The Friedkin Group had agreed a deal to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake but withdrew last month after carrying out due diligence. The American investors were apparently concerned about the legal uncertainties surrounding the £200m in loans that 777 Partners, the first to agree a deal, had provided to keep the club operating.
According to The Guardian, one complication regarding Textor’s offer is that he owns 45% of Crystal Palace and would be required to sell those shares to buy Everton.
Textor is understood to be confident that arranging a financing deal for Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock could allow him to delay a prospective takeover until as late as January, giving him the time he needs to find a buyer for his Crystal Palace shares who will give him the profit he seeks.
His Eagle Football has invested in clubs around the world, including the Brazilian first division club Botafogo and Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek as well as Lyon in France. Textor has been looking to sell his Palace stake for a while to allow him to become a majority shareholder at another English club. He has looked at QPR and Watford in recent times.
“Yes, we are looking at Everton along with everybody else,” Textor told the Daily Mirror on Sunday 11 August.
“I would have to rationalise my interest in Palace before I could close anything.
“I am an Anglophile when it comes to football. When I see these legendary teams come along, some in the Premier League, some in the Championship, clubs that I grew up with, they have an appeal.
“They also have an appeal to our business model because if I follow these great teams, then so do athletes around the world.
“We are signing athletes down in Brazil right now because of the dream of playing on to Europe. It is important to have one of those great, authentic English clubs at the heart of our constellation of clubs.
“I say constellation not multi-club because I think every one of our clubs should be a champion. The feeder system doesn’t really work for us.
“But it does work that players from South, Central and North America all want to be here so it is important that we have a good partner in the Premier League as part of our family at Eagle.
“We will definitely keep looking until we find the right fit.”
Quotes sourced from The Guardian
Reader Comments (78)
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2 Posted 09/08/2024 at 14:44:39
Bite the bullet, Moshiri, you halfwit, and take whatever comes your way. You're not recovering any losses.
3 Posted 09/08/2024 at 14:51:52
4 Posted 09/08/2024 at 14:52:00
5 Posted 09/08/2024 at 14:57:00
6 Posted 09/08/2024 at 15:02:28
Textor isn't the person I'd choose to be the new owner, but us mere mortals don't get to choose, do we?
Fingers crossed we eventually get an owner who will benefit the club, but it does look as if we may have to wait a little longer than we'd all like.
7 Posted 09/08/2024 at 15:07:19
A deal gets done before Everton secure another season in the Premier League or they see their margins get squeezed by an increase in the obvious latent value of the club.
8 Posted 09/08/2024 at 15:36:46
I bumped into him years ago when he was filming his ''Where am I?'' spot for TV. He was filming at Backbarrow near the Lakes Motor Museum. I called out to him and he said "Shh... I'm supposed to be incognito!"
This was well before the truth came out I hasten to add.
9 Posted 09/08/2024 at 15:51:36
Belter 😂
10 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:13:00
I wonder how he plans to get past that?
11 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:17:08
Why is he a "Chancer"?
I haven't read much on Textor and have no opinion of him taking over or not taking over. But I'm genuinely curious — and if anyone at all wants to chime, in please do — what are the negatives with Textor?
What has he done that creates any feelings of trepidation if he takes over Everton? What's the case against him?
From my uninformed view, he's taken Palace and done pretty well with them? They are far more "safe" and "formidable" than they've been in the recent past. I also think they are financially stable? So what's the negatives with Textor?
Someone enlighten me.
12 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:22:34
I don't think Friedkin problem was paying the 777 Partners loans off.
I think he was worried that, once the civil case against 777 Partners was done, then it was going to end up in a criminal case. That could drag Everton into court and wouldn't be a good look for him.
13 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:25:50
I am wondering the same about the negativity towards John Textor.
He has publicly stated what a privilege it would be to own Everton FC and how it is a big club that he would be delighted to take back to the top.
If that is a statement of intent, it is good enough for me… but seemingly not good enough for some.
15 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:49:26
I won't get excited about it until I see him holding up the shirt.
16 Posted 09/08/2024 at 16:51:42
on an unrelated note, I saw one the of the players going out on loan and the thought occurred when will we ever get a reserve who is ready to go into the first team. Instantly thought of John Ebbrell. Looked him up. He's sixty four.
17 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:00:38
Enough has been written on ToffeeWeb but I don't think I've seen anything that is absolutely concrete and says that whoever buys Everton will have legal issues with those loans that 777 Partners have provided?
18 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:02:16
Seems like a serious contender with a genuine interest in football.
And some with schoolboy mentality are sniggering because they think he resembles a notorious sex offender!
19 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:19:16
20 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:23:50
I don't think I've seen anything that is absolutely concrete and says that whoever buys Everton will have legal issues with those loans that 777 Partners have provided?
We've had plenty looking at this every whichway in a recent thread, including endless prognostications by self-proclaimed legal expert, John Wilson, and there is nothing "absolutely concrete" about it — exactly because it involves very murky legal issues, and inevitable legal arguments.
Please don't poke the sleeping bear and set him going again!
21 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:38:29
Seriously, not sure how to take this latest turn on the twisty bumpy buying Everton road.
He is returning with the same deal Moshiri refused previously???
This time the ever so right Guardian have added and eluded that he will take the financial burden of the new stadium out of Moshiri's hands.
Which is not the same deal.
Well wasnt he going to do that anyway when buying the whole kitten caboodle ?
You cant buy the club without a stadium. Or maybe even the inept and most stupid Moshiri wasnt fooled by that ruse the first time.
"Yes Mr Textor. I will sell you my shares at a knock down price and use them to pay off the debt of the stadium you want for free."
Now Textor appears have done the double switch. Buy the stadium but not the team.
Craziness breeds craziness.
Jumping from the pan into the . ???
22 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:45:20
23 Posted 09/08/2024 at 17:47:18
If Everton is a bonafide debtor, there will be no problem once the 777 loan is paid off. The problem the Texas mogul had is he wanted the holder of the 777 Partners loan to take a haircut and he couldn't identify the appropriate party to negotiate with. There's a workaround but Moshiri would have to cooperate. Just my opinion as a semi-retired Texas lawyer.
One other thought — could Moshiri be stringing these American billionaires along with the objective to acquire revolving bridge loans until such time as the Russian is no longer persona non grata with the Premier League?
24 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:01:37
Hopefully this stops everyone going over old ground, once again Michael!
25 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:24:01
I don't care if Moshiri loses everything, he hasn't exactly considered us in any of this, just idolising the Green-Eyed Monster.
The sooner we are shut of that prick, the better. Between him and the Maggot they have taken Everton to an all-time low.
26 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:29:19
Thank heavens for that, couldn't believe it when I thought I saw it. The old eyesight aint what I used to be. (I can't even blame Wikipedia for this one.)
27 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:36:18
My only concern was selling his shares at Palace quickly enough, unless he sells them to Friedkin.
28 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:49:32
Nah. Surely not.
29 Posted 09/08/2024 at 18:59:45
That was good to hear for a change.
30 Posted 09/08/2024 at 19:31:38
Or, Fred Pontin ?
Book early !
32 Posted 09/08/2024 at 20:58:11
33 Posted 09/08/2024 at 21:33:17
34 Posted 09/08/2024 at 21:51:00
Well, what has changed since he last made a "bid' for us? Then, like now, he had a 45% shareholding in Crystal Palace, and then, like now, there is no sign of him offloading it. In fact, the word is that he wants to make a nice profit on his Palace shares and I'm not sure how he will do that.
Meanwhile, what has changed with the Moshiri situation since Textor last made a "bid"? It's only got worse — The Friedkin Group pulled out because of insurmountable problems with the 777 Partners debt, and I see no evidence that Textor has either the resources or the ability to solve that particular conundrum.
So, if he says he wants a period of exclusivity, what happens when he can't offload his Palace shares for the profit that he wants? Meanwhile, how does he unwind the 777 debt issues?
He's looked at other clubs, supposedly one in the Premier League and several in the Championship, so it's not like he's wedded to the idea of buying us.
35 Posted 10/08/2024 at 05:14:13
Depending on Moshiri to smooth any path is a risk given his past record. Other parties seem to have an influence on outcomes.
36 Posted 10/08/2024 at 06:29:13
Dogs walked and heading into London about 9 am to catch a train home from Euston.
It should be a good day out at Goodison. It always is.
37 Posted 10/08/2024 at 07:16:56
38 Posted 10/08/2024 at 08:45:26
Textor is a Chancer for the reasons you have given.I seem to remember on pres Textor threads he came up short producing the money his mouth said he had in previous Clubs he was involved in.
39 Posted 10/08/2024 at 09:01:32
One day, hopefully, one of them.will actually buy the club, maybe even run it competently.
We live in hope.
40 Posted 10/08/2024 at 09:27:07
41 Posted 10/08/2024 at 09:50:30
Most of the financials are in the public domain so any bidder must have a rough idea what it's going to take.
Still think performance on the pitch is our way out of this.
Get up the league. Get in Europe.
42 Posted 10/08/2024 at 11:09:14
I once came across a guy called Chico.He was a illegal immigrant. He survived under intense official scrutiny.I could not understand how he could survive until someone told me he baffles them.Chico proposed marriage once a week
43 Posted 10/08/2024 at 19:17:03
Then, this time next year, when, hopefully, we are still in the Premier League, with no more PSR threats, we are starting the season in BMD that is sold out for the season and all the hospitality and corporate deals are done, we would be a much more attractive and valuable proposition..
44 Posted 11/08/2024 at 02:05:19
Reminds me of Kenwright, the biggest of all chances...
45 Posted 11/08/2024 at 07:47:30
Sure, he might say all the right things (so did Bill) but it's just kicking the frickin' can down the road again. Mr Friedkin, please come back.
46 Posted 11/08/2024 at 09:35:20
“It would make sense for him because, if he stays under 30% ownership at Everton, then he wouldn't have the conflict with Roma."
What 30% threshold is that then? Is it a Uefa thing?? Is it even anything real at all???
(I really wish our clickbait dickheads would pull the plug on the 66-year-old former CEO who now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs... Pfffth!)
47 Posted 11/08/2024 at 12:55:51
Dowding et al, the Everton fans, don't want to buy Everton now. They barely have a billion between them anyway and know zilch about running a Premier League football club, and for that matter neither does Friedkin, whereas Textor does and says he also has billionaire allies.
Friedkin might come back as Wyness suggests on his podcast. I'm sorry Paul The Esk hasn't said that as apparently it's not resolvable as Paul is still harbinger of doom and gloom, well presently.
48 Posted 11/08/2024 at 14:18:25
Foreign clubs have sweet FA to do with it. It's perfectly fine to own or control two clubs if they are in different jurisdictions ie: countries.
49 Posted 11/08/2024 at 14:39:06
In this case the maximum shareholding in one or other rises to 49%. But this does not automatically mean a buyer fails the Premier League's fit and proper person test.
50 Posted 11/08/2024 at 14:59:38
Alternative, Textor could take majority of Everton and Friedkin is minority shareholder, with his £200 million already invested.
51 Posted 11/08/2024 at 15:12:55
Everton is a very good buy when you consider how much extra revenue the stadium is going to bring, especially if you can move the team forward, but maybe I only think like this because I'm an Evertonian.
52 Posted 11/08/2024 at 15:22:53
Also, as a purely speculative note, Friedkin was getting Roma a good amount of US TV coverage while the red shite marketing was in full effect. Dropped off in recent years but now as he makes his appropach, waa laa, Everton's preseason matches are featured.
I believe he has a media lever and is positioning himself for the inevitable ruling against 777 Partners.
53 Posted 11/08/2024 at 15:48:50
I believe whoever buys the club only has to pay off the £650M debt. Seems a bargain to me.
54 Posted 11/08/2024 at 16:05:13
Surely it can't be £600 million, unless not totally owning the new stadium is part of that dea,l Paul, especially when Friedkin is allegedly hoping to build a new stadium in Rome which will cost him around £800 million?
If this was true, my guess is that he would have found a way around those alleged problems with 777 Partners, but that's all I am doing, I'm guessing.
55 Posted 11/08/2024 at 16:22:32
Amazing when Sir Jim Ratcliffe was trying to buy Man Utd, the press sought out Joel Glazer to ask him what was happening. Yet, as far as I know, I have read nothing from the press about speaking to Moshiri to ask what is happening to Everton, even Jim White seems to be getting nothing from Moshiri.
56 Posted 11/08/2024 at 17:55:45
That can't be true as that would mean Moshiri walking away with nothing after spending over £1B. He reportedly wants £500M and whoever buys gets the debt.
57 Posted 11/08/2024 at 18:39:40
The misinformation and lack of common sense has come from The Athletic, The Blue Echo and other usually credible sources. There is just no common sense whatsoever.
Moshiri will get his money back and or all of it when the stadium is doing well. For now, he will have to take what he can in the interim as currently the Everton assets cannot be valued fairly given the several hundred million debt and incomplete stadium.
58 Posted 11/08/2024 at 18:43:21
Moshiri will not get all his money back, far from it. He apparently is only looking for £50M for his shares.
59 Posted 11/08/2024 at 19:48:39
Paul, is your home for sale? I'll buy it for 10% of its worth, is that okay? Come on, Paul. Just accept 10% please and walk away. Why are you being so unreasonable!
60 Posted 11/08/2024 at 20:03:50
Moshiri thought to himself "I want a stadium, I'll put some of my money into it. I know Everton and, with the stadium as a sellable asset will be worth £2-3 billion in less than 5 years time."
He is prepared to use loans up to whatever it costs to build this stadium as he is speculating to accumulate. Then, when it grows in value, and it will, it will have about £1.4 billion or more in equity.
This is why Moshiri is using other people's money to pay for it. Moshiri was Usmanov's accountant and now a billionaire. Are you telling me Moshiri doesn't understand money, doesn't understand equity and profit?
Moshiri will get his money back and probably more in profit. This is what shocks me concerning The Esk, he seems to have opinions without using common sense.
61 Posted 11/08/2024 at 20:11:13
Moshiri has not given Everton anything, he has just secured his interest by having 94.1% of Everton which in a few years time will grow as aforesaid and will turn into 94.1% equity.
Equity is the difference between price paid and market value.
62 Posted 11/08/2024 at 20:25:20
Moshiri and his lack of common sense is the reason Everton have been in freefall.
63 Posted 12/08/2024 at 09:55:18
Update: Friedkin is apparently back for minority share, 30% or £200 million. This is what I suggested. I think Friedkin wants Everton and will get it. I think this 30% minority share is a tactic. He only needs to fund £400 million and the current equity is his.
Over the years, Moshiri and Friedkin will share equity. Moshiri, if he transfers his said equity, it seems he will use his £600 million for a land charge on the stadium and attached with interest based on future performance of Everton and or of our new stadium.
Moshiri's equity (value), he will probably secure it by a land charge (or here equitable charge, as the new own acquires legal ownership, ie by deed). His land charge will be put on the land register as a restriction, which means any owner has to pay off Moshiri in the future before transferring any part of the land.
64 Posted 12/08/2024 at 10:06:18
https://www.goodisonnews.com/2024/08/12/everton-takeover-twist-friedkin-group-share-farhad-moshiri/
I think the pre-season game with Roma has rekindled it for Friedkin. Caveat: assuming this publication is correct.
65 Posted 12/08/2024 at 10:22:33
https://m.laroma24.it/rubriche/la-penna-degli-altri/2024/08/friedkin-everton-pronta-lofferta-per-il-30-del-club
Click English to translate:
Friedkin-Everton: a marriage that perhaps needs to happen. Two months ago the deal was practically concluded, then there was a change of heart on July 19th due to concerns about the many debts owed to 777 Partners. Now the Texans have a new idea: to get their hands on a minority share of Everton, one close to 30%.
66 Posted 12/08/2024 at 18:23:52
That doesn't make sense to me.
The % difference suggests a lack of funds, not an issue with 777 loans.
68 Posted 12/08/2024 at 18:30:17
Friedkin could buy 30%, and Textor the rest.
69 Posted 12/08/2024 at 18:58:26
That puts the acquisition price including the stadium at about £1.3B plus legal costs which will no doubt be put on the club.
Considering Boehy paid £4B for Chelsea, even allowing for Chelsea real estate values, makes Everton's price seem reasonable until you compare it with buying Newcastle with a bigger but older stadium for £350M.
Somewhere between the two there is a deal to be struck but only if Moshiri is to take a bath to atone for his error-ridden tenure.
70 Posted 12/08/2024 at 19:01:40
That is why Usmanov wanted out of Arsenal and Textor wants out of Palace.
Majority shareholders rule — especially in the high finance world of the Premier League.
71 Posted 12/08/2024 at 19:23:43
Or were the owners of 777 Partners treating the assets as a bust out (a la Goodfellas with the restaurant), such that they knew it was going to go pop and took a backhander from Moshiri to funnel £200M our way knowing full well they were going to go pop, and that the liquidator would take years to claw it back again. An interest free loan at the very least.
If that is the case, then our chap isn't really interested in selling, he's just waiting for the wind to change.
72 Posted 12/08/2024 at 20:20:17
73 Posted 12/08/2024 at 21:23:54
Moshiri will make his money back if the stadium hits £2-3 billion. Moshiri has 94% equity whether as legal owner (by deed) or equitable owner (maxim, equity follows law).
74 Posted 12/08/2024 at 21:28:37
Joe Thomas, Blue Echo, and Alan Myers, both confirm Friedkin has not stated any interest for the 30%/ minority share.
Italian publication is thus currently wrong. But things change quickly as we know, so we'll see!
75 Posted 12/08/2024 at 22:00:04
Eagle Football Holding owns about 45% of the Palace shares, not Textor. He owns the most shares within that (25-30%?). It might not be as easy to pull out of Palace as "Name your price".
76 Posted 12/08/2024 at 22:31:33
"Moshiri has 94% equity whether as legal owner (by deed) or equitable owner (maxim, equity follows law)."
You seem to want to make a very simple thing unnecessarily complex. Moshiri owns 94.1% of Everton Shares. That is his equity in the company.
Well, it's not actually. The shares are held by Blue Heaven Holdings, which in turn is owned 100% by Moshiri (so we are told). But no need for deeds.
Deeds would be for property owned by the club. But they would be held by the club itself (the company Everton FC Co Ltd) — not by the majority owner of shares.
77 Posted 12/08/2024 at 23:07:47
https://youtu.be/s-ycvJC-qIQ?si=8WPPM0nK_t8cEdxf
78 Posted 13/08/2024 at 19:23:11
First you said Moshiri would walk away with nothing, then it was £50M, and now it is £80-100M! Where do you get your information from?
79 Posted 13/08/2024 at 19:49:34
80 Posted 13/08/2024 at 19:51:46
82 Posted 15/08/2024 at 14:44:06
The solution at Everton is the restructuring of debt. The momentum will be Everton needing more funds. Nothing has been addressed regarding the trend of increasing losses from the two previous years.
Though Moshiri has a majority stake, it's power is being diluted by increasing debt payments and the increasing power of debtors as a result.
A complete takeover is now out of the equation. In a lot of ways, it would have been better that Moshiri had have been sanctioned after the Ukraine Invasion, making the situation more clear-cut, forcing him to abandon his equity and pay to get out.
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1 Posted 09/08/2024 at 14:38:21
Worst-case scenario is Moshiri giving yet another period of exclusivity to someone who is unable to complete the deal.
It just goes on.