Everton respond to claims lucrative 777 Partners takeover is under threat
Everton have categorically rejected claims that a proposed takeover of the club by American investment firm 777 Partners is under threat.
And in an unusual step, the club has made clear there are “no deadlines” on the timeframe of the deal, which will see current owner Farhad Moshiri sell his majority stake in the Premier League outfit.
Sources close to the Everton owner and the club hierarchy, say they are satisfied the deal remains on track, and suggested they “categorically deny the takeover is stalling”.
Those claims were made by a United States newspaper, who have been involved in a long-running investigation into Miami-based 777 Partners, and alleged the deal has stalled because of a failure to provide relevant documentation to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Under new Premier League rules, any prospective new owner must first satisfy their ‘fit and proper persons test’, which includes providing full financial audits to the FCA, who will scrutinise the finances behind any deal.
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It is understood the financial body, as part of the preliminaries for the deal, had requested 777’s audited financial accounts for the most recent tax year, but had not yet received full details to satisfy their audit.
But a spokesperson for 777 responded by claiming: “We have submitted all relevant documentation to the FCA in line with their requests, and indicative timings.
“As we have previously stated, the regulatory processes in relation to the proposed acquisition of Everton FC need to be allowed the proper time and space to run their course in private, and so we will not be commenting further.”
Put simply, the FCA wants extensive financial documentation in order to be able to examine the deal, which 777 have not yet fully provided. But there are no deadlines for the delivery of the information.
In fact, there is no official deadline for the takeover, though both Everton and the American Investment firm have suggested they want it to be completed before the New Year.
We understand that both the Premier League and the FCA will require proof of funds for the financing of the takeover AND a clear trail on where the money is coming from. So far, 777 have not shown evidence that they have those funds in place.
The Miami company owns or has stakes in seven football clubs, including Genoa, Standard Liege and Vasco de Gama in Brazil, and has appeared to finance those deals through borrowing from another American firm, A-Cap.
It has been claimed that the borrowing already exceeds $1bn, and with the full bill to buy Everton, pay off large debts and finish the new stadium calculated at around £1bn, that is a hefty finance package.
The Premier League have made clear they will require proof that the funds are in place before any deal will be ratified, but again, there is no deadline on providing this proof - giving 777 an open timeframe to come up with the money.
Everton's Goodison Park stadium (Getty Images)Sources at Everton suggest the documentation so far required by the FCA will be delivered by 777 in due course, but there are no guarantees this will happen in the near future.
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Billionaire owner Moshiri - who had previously enjoyed a close working relationship with Alisher Usmanov before he was sanctioned by the British government for his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin - has already borrowed around £40m to improve cash flow at Goodison.
The loan is understood to be working capital for wage costs that Everton’s income cannot cover, and Moshiri insisted he has confidence in 777 Partners delivering the takeover.
“They are highly professional and deliver exactly when they say they will, and I look forward to them achieving all their regulatory approvals and proceeding to completion on the timetable we set,” he said recently.
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