American businessman John Textor is currently on Merseyside to negotiate takeover talks with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri. The current Toffees owner has been attempting to offload the club for at least a year. Although Moshiri thought he previously had a deal with 777 Partners, the firm could not complete the deal.
The Friedkin Group then entered a period of exclusivity with Moshiri regarding an agreement. Nevertheless, the Americans eventually walked away from negotiations over the massive debt piling up at the club. Despite these concerns, Textor is willing to take on these outstanding payments and become Everton’s majority owner.
Textor and Moshiri have been discussing a deal for the Toffees in recent days. Now, according to The Guardian, an official agreement is expected to be finalized by the end of the week. Textor’s previous offer, which was made before the Friedkin Group entered exclusive talks with Moshiri remains on the table.
The American is also apparently confident of securing finances to take on Everton’s new arena at Bramley-Moore dock. The stadium is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $750 million.
While an agreement is close, the complicated new stadium plans could very well push back the completion of the takeover. Along with the Bramley-Moore dock situation, Textor also has extra hurdles to climb before officially buying Everton. The main obstacle for the American is that he has to first offload his shares of Crystal Palace. Investors cannot own two different Premier League clubs.
Textor currently owns 45% of the Eagles after increasing his shares in recent years. Fellow Palace owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have offered to pay Textor about $155 million for the shares. Textor, however, rejected the proposal and is looking for significantly more money.
Harris and Blitzer could very well increase their offer in the coming days. Nevertheless, other investors have also discussed purchasing Textor’s Palace shares. One of these potential buyers is a fellow American, while another is from the Middle East. Either way, Palace chairman Steve Parish has recently declared that he would not interfere in Textor selling his shares.
Everton fans will celebrate an ownership change that appears to be on the horizon. Finance expert Dan Plumley, however, has called on Toffees supporters to be cautious with the news. “We’ve been here before,” Plumley told Goodison News.
“In the context of Everton and what has come before, you can add several hurdles onto that given the backstory and some of the things that have happened with other failed takeovers.”
“Unfortunately, it does feel a little bit like here we go again. There needs to be a resolution, of course, but I’m sure the fans will probably be more cautious now than they have ever been because they’ve been here before and nothing has got over the line.”
Textor does have a strong desire to take over the club though. He is in a better financial situation than 777 Partners and does not seem to be turned off by Everton’s mounting debt. This was previously a key issue for the Friedkin Group. Although the deal is not done just yet, there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel for Toffees fans.
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