Everton ‘close’ to full takeover by American firm 777 Partners; it could be bad news for Toffees fans

Harry Watkinson
Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and Chairman Bill Kenwright
Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and Chairman Bill Kenwright

Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners are ‘close’ to agreeing a full takeover of Everton, with Farhad Moshiri keen to cut his losses on the Merseyside club.

The Everton majority shareholder has been trying to secure investment for some time.  MSP Sports Capital came close to acquiring a minority stake in the Toffees, but their exclusivity agreement came to an end last month.

Moshiri’s time at Everton has been characterised by failure. Since he arrived at the club in 2017, they have spent over £700m on new players. Despite this, the Toffees have gone from being top six challengers to being serial relegation candidates.

His ownership at the club has grown increasingly turbulent in recent years. His former business partner Alisher Usmanov was a major sponsor for the club but the oligarch was added to the UK’s list of sanctioned individuals after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Everton is also preparing to appear before an independent commission on October 25 over its alleged breach of financial fair play rules.

Evertonians protested in their thousands against Moshiri and the club’s board last season as they faced the threat of relegation for the second consecutive season.

Everton’s Chief Executive Officer, Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Chief Finance and Strategy Officer Grant Ingles and Non-Executive Director Graeme Sharp resigned as a result of the protests, while heavily-criticised Chairman Bill Kenwright still remains.

It now seems that Everton are set for a full takeover, rather than a partial one. While many Evertonians are desperate for more investment and the removal of Moshiri and Kenwright, this could be bad news for Toffees supporters.

This is according to journalist Alan Myers, who is considered to be a top source when it comes to Everton news.

On TwitterMyers wrote: “Miami based 777 Partners are close to agreeing a deal to takeover Everton Football Club.

“The Multi-club investors have been in discussions with Farhad Moshiri since the news that New York group, MSP Sports Capital had ended its exclusivity agreement with the Everton major shareholder.

“777 already have a number of football clubs in their portfolio including Hertha Berlin, Seville and Standard liege, with the fans of liege holding a demonstration criticising the groups involvement at their last game.

“The move by 777 would be a full takeover, once all the Premier League requirements are met, which could take several months to complete.”

READ MORE: Sean Dyche to offload unwanted Everton star in the next few days, with European giants ‘interested’

As mentioned by Myers, 777 Partners already have stakes in seven clubs including Sevilla, Genoa, Hertha Berlin and Standard Liege. The latter’s fans held a demonstration against the group in their last game.

777’s co-founder, Josh Wander, has claimed that his firm has more than doubled squad value at Genoa, having funded the club back into Italy’s Serie A.

Hertha Berlin, however, were relegated to Germany’s second tier last season, so Evertonians will be fearful that the same could happen to them.

A report from the Daily Mail is even more worrying, however. They claim that the UK Government have concerns over the prospect of 777 investing in, or indeed taking over Everton. This centres around several ongoing court cases in the United States.

Government officials have discussed 777’s suitability for buying into the Premier League and whether Wander would pass the owners’ and directors’ test.

In addition to Wander pleading no contest for drug offences in 2003, 777 and sister company Sutton Park have been accused of multiple cases of fraud, offering illegal loans and failing to pay bills totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With that in mind, a full takeover by 777 could be bad news for Everton, even if they are desperate for more investment. So it will be interesting to see how this story develops over the next few days.

READ MORE: Free agents: The 20 best out-of-contract players as clubs get desperate