Report: Friedkin Group reignite interest in buying Everton

Source is Bloomburg apparently.

I prefer Textor.

Textor has exclusivity til the end of November... Duelling bidders will suit Moshiri...

But we need the quickest takeover — clear as mud how this pans out.

Come on, Friedkin for me!

Then get Dyche out and get a decent manager in.

I assume it would need Textor to back down though, before Friedkin could do anything.

Maybe it was to try and chip the price on Moshiri and maybe Textor has been used by Moshiri to let other interested parties know that, if they don't act soon, then it might be too late, because Textor is telling everyone he his getting a bargain.

The sale of Everton can't come soon enough… but I've been saying this for at least a couple of years now.

I think Textor is saying he is getting a bargain because he wants to attract additional capital from other investors as part of his consortium.

My one (two as I'm not in favour of the multi-club model) but my main gripe is that when The Friedkin Group pulled away at the start of the season, that single-handedly destabilised our season (transfer market) — second only to the fine work Dyche is doing.

Everton has been brought to its knees for most of the Moshiri reign. For the sake of Evertonians, this deal or when a deal is agreed, it must be right. There's a void to fill, in the running and football structure of the club.

Hopefully there's some credibility on both these organisations' interest in Everton FC. I've not done enough research on these two bidders, but both seem light years better than 777 Partners.

Plus £15M for O'Brien when he cost them £1M the summer before from Palace… It just doesn't stack up in my opinion.

But getting clear of Moshiri would be a bonus at any price.

Textor can't have access because he partly owns another Premier League club, that's against Premier League Rules. He may have an agreement but he doesn't have Exclusivity.

Textor is too vocal for my liking and he may have peed on his own chips talking about our current manager. I assume that Friedkin would have to wait until Textor's exclusivity ends?

Your theory re: Textor's comments might be on the mark. There was always a reason for them – that might be it.

Cynical? Fanciful? Maybe. But I've known farmers do similar things with land acquisitions.

We can't rule anything out nor anything in. I just wish our football operation had as many tactical options as these high-flying financial wizards.

I would rather have The Friedkin Group.

As they've already had a period of exclusivity, and had a period of negotiation, they could possibly carry on rather than go through the process from the start again.

Would or could they join with Textor? I don't have enough knowledge to understand if that is an option and, if the report is to be believed, Friedkin would want full control.

It rumbles on.

When Textor arrived with serious interest, I just wondered if it could "threaten" Friedkin's strategy. Still, I wonder how much credibility we can give to the report of rekindled interest?

Until someone comes out and agrees the deal, I will believe it when I see it. So many twists and turns with Everton, it's hard to know what to believe.

He will want a Premier League club after all.

Yes, my thoughts, precisely too. I was expecting something like this to happen. Said at the time that Friedkin was playing games, hoping to get rock bottom price.

Plus, the timing of the pre-emption of another offer being made, in Textor's rambling statement. Or, are we just conspiracy theorists?

Friedkin may have delayed in order to get a better deal.

This had crossed my mind, as well. Would be interesting to see who would take the majority shareholding? Grin!

The Leadenhall v 777/A-Cap lawsuit that led him to walk away is still ongoing. But, somehow that is not an unstoppable issue now that Textor has stepped in with a bid.

6.5 billion times better if you compare their net worth.

A quick rate cut might fuel the bidding spree.

That man knows how to build brands and has powerful connections plus a wife who can fill the front cover of the match-day program. (Apologies to Christine and our other female posters in advance for that sexist remark!)

' Surely that's a different field altogether!' :-)

Sorry Peter, couldn't resist. Either way, I just hope a conclusion is close, and as I said before, I hope Moshiri ends up with next to nothing, but if anything this strengthens his position, having two punters fighting over his shit-show.

Does anyone across the pond know what, if anything, has happened in the 777 Partners Court Case? Again I hope they get next to nothing, or a long porridge diet.

Dyche won't need a target on his arse, as I believe either suitor, when feet are under the boardroom table, will hoof him out with his two hard-boiled eggs! Mr Ferry will no doubt be as pleased as myself.

I doubt they would join forces, Friedkin is a decision maker and Textor is selling his shares in Palace because he can't get a controlling interest.

It would be great if they could though: Friedkin's wealth coupled with Textor's connections.

Why would you want a bidding war? That would just play into Moshiri's hands. I couldn't give a monkey's whether he gets value — I just want the situation resolved as quickly as possible.

A bidding war will just create a delay.

Who knows? I don't confess to understand the complexities.

Whatever happens, just get this done, Mr Moshiri, and stop keeping us hanging on.

I've a feeling this won't be sorted anytime in the next 12 months.

The BBC reported that Everton had agreed a period of exclusivity with Textor. Pretty sure Textor also recently confirmed an exclusivity agreement was in place although he suggested that didn't really count for a lot if another bidder entered the fray.

Agreed. Hence my comment about who would take the major share if they joined forces to buy Everton. I can't help but think there is something in all of this that we are all missing and that is frustrating the crxp out of me. Are Friedkin and/or Textor involved in the steel industry???

This points to it being an affordability issue first time around, rather than an issue with the 777 situation. As why be back in otherwise for a smaller stake?

Whatever the situation can we please sort this out such that I am not watching Ashley Young & Michael Keane at Bramley Moore Dock playing Rotherham.

I think it’s exclusivity in terms of access to accounts etc Brendan as another poster said.

Having already had access I’m hoping that Friedkin wouldn’t have to start from scratch.

As Danny said he’s got form for this, did the same with Roma.

I think he was probably testing Moshiri resolve on pricing. In reality the whole 777 thing was just a smokescreen and now Textor has come in and upset the Apple cart.

Anyway, who knows, certainly not us mere mortals.

Not quite sure how "exclusivity in terms of access to accounts etc" differs from what is normally understood by "exclusivity"

That also contradicts what Stephen #14 is saying as he seems to be suggesting that under Premier League rules Textor can't have access to Everton's books.

It's generally being reported as a period of exclusivity and this is the first time I've seen it suggested that it is somehow limited.

That's generally the case with exclusivity agreements. It's not necessarily peculiar to the Everton/Textor "exclusivity" period.

I would think that our current owner would like to get the deal done ASAP, however, I would also think that he is trying to minimize his losses, which will be quite substantial the way things have worked out. I bet he rues the day he came across Bill Kenwright.

It was an opportunity for change, as it will be with the new owners, whoever they may be.

Friedkin did the same thing with Roma, making a bid, pulling out then going back in and buying them so it's not out of the question for him to come back in - he's also some way down the line with due diligence already so it has legs.

Brands wanted to give Silva, more time, but anyone who has a clue about football, would have definitely got rid of the Cloggy, who was obviously on a completely different page to the first team manager.

That's why he scrambling around the globe for 'celebrity' type investors. If he gets his hand on the club, don't be surprised to see BMD sold off at some stage to give his 'investors' a return on their capital.

Whether that is Textor or Friedkin or some other entity hiding in the shadows, I don't know… Everton are just a pawn in the game.

I personally don't like multi-club ownership, but then I am very old, conflict of interest and all that. However, one man ownership hasn't done us much good either, has it?

Whether we get new owners soon, whether Dyche is going to remain as manager, if not,who will it be? However it pans out, it certainly means some interesting threads to look forward to on ToffeeWeb.

To start it off, I think Gary Neville couldn't be any worse than the above as owner. Plenty of money, football and Premier League background, too bad he's a Manc!!

I'm just going to get my steel helmet now!!

Filthy old money to the tune of $18B.

He (Textor) also owned a skateboarding company in the '90s, and actually competed as a skater himself until a severe head injury halted his career – no wonder he wants to buy Everton!

I can't see why Moshiri can't sell parts of club if he can't find one person to buy us. I get 'tycoons' would prefer to have full control but it's a big chunk of money to do that.

The new ownership needs to be sorted sooner rather than later because money needs to be spent on new players, we are in danger of being relegated if the team is not strengthened.

The value of the club would nosedive if that happened.

They could set up a match, Palace against Roma, or just a running race for the pair of them, once around Goodison.

Loser has to buy Everton!

The people who are suffering the most that he does not seem to care about, are its fantastic supporters, who will stand by the club long after these investors try to increase their fortunes.

As I have said before, Investors only invest to make more money, and despite how much they spout about waking a sleeping giant and helping their fantastic supporters world wide, profits are their bottom line.

I live and learn Brendan.

Someone please just buy us.

Wasn't trying to be controversial. Just thought I had missed something.

I come from the finance industry and I can’t make head or tail of Everton’s situation

"Leadenhall filed an amended complaint with the same court on 30 August, this publication can reveal, which seeks to place A-Cap at the heart of its allegations by claiming 777 Partners’ scheme would not have been possible and would not have been “able to operate undetected for so long” without the aid of A-Cap and its executives."

My amateur read of it is that Leadenhall is calling King and his A-Cap basically the leader(s) of the whole mess.
Link

Many thanks for posting that link to 'The Insurer' magazine/website, it is thankfully more detailed and informative from other articles that I have recently read.

There is a very worrying aspect that this could mean any take over drags on, as I'll show here via an excerpt;

"“While the court has already acknowledged the robustness of the claims by issuing an asset-freezing order to prevent further harm against Leadenhall and its investors, the amended complaint expands on the extensive timeline and facts supporting our legal claims, including A-Cap’s role in the alleged fraud.

“We (Leadenhall) remain confident in our strong legal case and look forward to moving ahead with the discovery phase of the litigation, during which we expect to receive communications and other documents from defendants to further reinforce our allegations.”"

The second paragraph means that it will obviously slow down the trial process while documents and evidence is provided to the appellants legal team(s) for discovery and bargaining.

Additionally, if the Court decides to expand it's initial asset-freezing of the 777/600 funds and assets, to the assets held by A-Cap, Haymarket etc and Kenneth King himself; then this could drag on well into Q3/4 of 2025 before the Court moves to hear the opening arguments of the case.

The problem being then, that the ca. £200mn of lending to the club could become tantamount to being frozen (I.e. evidential to the legal course) until the case is over.

Would that mean interest is still being accrued on the loan, at what rates if so, and to who(m) is the interest payable?

I doubt very much that (if the means are available) that putting monies aside to settle the debt would be applicable E.g. placed in an escrow account; and indeed, I doubt other than early settlement of the debt (which might incur indemnity payments) which would mean that the Court would probably hold the repaid funds in 'trust', until the case is resolved.

The unfortunate fact of life is that the loans were made to the club directly and as such they are a liability to the club and not to Moshiri.

Thanks again for posting James, 'tis much appreciated. 👍🙂

I as I hope all on here, just want the ownership issue resolved successfully and rapidly. With the best foundations laid for moving the club forward, without haemorrhaging too much money into investor's portfolios; thus allowing the club to start the undoubted slow process to being competitive above out current level again.

Maybe Moshiri is spinning false info to the press.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. I'll believe it when its done.

I wish you would expand on some of the posts you make, I'm not doubting your information at all, but it would be nice to know who said it and where you heard it.

Safe to say that, if they had been successful in their purchase of Everton, Dyche would be a lot closer to the exit door by now.

Also interesting that Dan Friedkin had flown into Rome yesterday – presumably to sack De Rossi himself.

I like his style.

James @62 and Simon @63. Thanks for the details. This is a worry but there must be some way to create a solution that allows the sale to go through. Way beyond my knowledge, though!