Crystal Palace for sale as Textor look to buy Everton – Inside Croydon

Crystal Palace Football Club is for sale.

Or at least a sizeable chunk of the club’s equity is up for sale, according to a report in The Financial timeswhich states that co-owner John Textor, the American businessman, wants to sell his 40% stake.

Textor instead wants to buy a significant part of Everton: “Everton represents the best of English football. How great would it be to lead one of these great English clubs back to some sort of glory?” Textor was reported to say yesterday.

In puts Palace in the mix of end-of-season turmoil and transition alongside a host of other Premier League clubs, with a managerial carousel also spinning faster than ever. And all after the Eagles under new boss Oliver Glasner enjoyed a flying couple of weeks to finish 10th in the table, with four of the club’s exciting young players named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for the European Championship from next month.

Textor’s decision to move on comes just as work is set to begin on the long-delayed scheme to build the new £150m stand.

Palace fans right again: banners at Selhurst Park last year when Textor bought Lyon

His latest comments will hardly endear him to Palace fans. Textor’s ownership of the Selhurst Park club has at times attracted controversy and criticism from fans which, given recent developments, appear to have been valid concerns.

Textor and club chairman Steve Parish were barely in talks just over a year ago after the American paid £800m to add French club Olympique Lyonnais to his Eagle Football portfolio, which also includes stakes the Brazilian team Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek from Belgium.

Parish initially refused to allow Textor to trade his shares in Palace to Eagle Football Holdings. This was necessary for the Premier League to approve its takeover, with regulations stipulating that if an owner wishes to acquire a significant interest in a foreign club, they are required to notify the league through a “dual notice of interest” .

Tech entrepreneur Textor bought around 40% of Crystal Palace in 2021 for £90m, joining Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Blackstone chief executive David Blitzer and Parish on its four-person board.

Looking at Everton: John Textor

Although Eagle Football is Palace’s single largest shareholder, Textor has equal voting rights with the club’s other directors.

Textor has hired commercial bank Raine Group to handle the sale of its Palace stake. “Textor said that while he was “extremely proud” of his role in helping Palace achieve “a level of durability that is incredibly unusual in today’s Premier League”, his vision to run a network of more clubs was not aligned with the club’s goals, ” the FT reports.

“Crystal Palace are an independent club,” said Textor. “An integrated sports model like the Eagle just doesn’t fit the bill.”

Tottenham, West Ham and Brentford are also looking for new investors, shortly after the Glazers sold 27% of Manchester United and Chelsea were bought by American investors for £2.5bn. Merchant bankers Raine advised on the Chelsea, Lyon and United deals.

777 Partners’ takeover of Everton continues to unfold amid fan pressure for owner Farhad Moshiri to seek alternative buyers.

Asked if he had held discussions about buying Everton, Textor said The Athletic: “Yes. With the existing constituents – different groups, different creditors, different equity holders.

“I asked them, ‘Is there a way to sort through all this confusion and address everyone’s problems?’

“I’m very open to it, but I don’t want to get into a situation where I’m not really welcome.

“I’m looking at it, but the 777 still has a contract. There are people close to the club who care a lot about it and who invest. Look at the guy who drives it, who still gives the power. Maybe we’re uniquely positioned to solve a lot of problems for people, but we’re just looking at it right now because there are other people who already own pieces of that club and want to figure it out.

“I’m looking into it, but it’s pretty confusing and some things need to be cleaned up.”

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