Everton takeover: US investors could buy club for ‘holding season’ before quick sale

As 777 Partners’ attempts to complete the Everton takeover continue to unravel, MSP Sports Capital could buy the club with a view to a quick sale, believes Keith Wyness.

Everton announced on 15 September that 777 Partners had signed an agreement with majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri to acquire its entire 94.1% stake in the club, and that the closing of the deal should take place in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, over eight months on , the Miami-based private equity firm, which has been hit by payment problems at the clubs it owns (Standard Liege in Belgium and Vasco da Gama in Brazil) and hit by legal challenges, still did not get the green light on the purchase by the five members of the Premier League board.

The technicalities look set to end on May 31, the deadline for the group’s share purchase agreement, with the 777 deal now looking dead in the water and there appears to be little appetite for Josh Wander and company among Everton supporters – the Fans Advisory Council has put questioned the feasibility of the 777. in a virtual meeting with Moshiri, who was not in the UK, last week. MSP previously struck an exclusivity deal with Moshiri to buy the club outright, but talks broke down last summer, but they have loaned Everton £158m and are understood to be entitled to a majority share in the club if they do not respect that agreement. .

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Wyness, who was Everton’s chief executive between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted the Blues will be a “totally different asset” by the time they move from Goodison Park next year at the new stadium at Bramley, with a capacity of 52,888 people. Moore Dock if their Premier League status is maintained again. The 66-year-old suggested the 2024/25 campaign could become a “season of waiting” if MSP take over – with Premier League survival “vital” to their potential plans.

He told Football Insider’s Insider Track podcast: “Maybe someone like MSP Sports Capital will try to keep the club together next season.

“Then they end up with a totally different asset that they can sell in 2025. It could be a Premier League club with a brand new stadium.

“2024-25 could be a holding season. It’s becoming as crucial as the last few relegation battles, with Premier League status being the absolute priority.”