Everton investment update: MSP Sports Capital to charge interest on loan – Finance Expert

The money MSP Sports Capital is putting into Everton will initially come in the form of a loan with an option to turn it into shares at a later date, according to Kieran Maguire.

The finance expert believes the American company are spending up to £150million in a move which secures the development of the new stadium.

But the manner of the investment means that while it remains as a loan there will be interest charged on it according to the University of Liverpool man, although he still classes the development coming on top of a narrow escape from relegation as a positive for the club.

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Maguire said on The Price of Football podcast on Thursday (1 June, 11m): “Had Everton been relegated they were the club I would have been most concerned about in terms of the transition to the Championship.

“There was the fact that the auditor’s report was pretty negative, they’d changed auditors three times in four years, there were issues with regard to some existing loans that they’d taken out and what would happen to them – there was clauses in those loans should the club be relegated.

“But none of that has crystallised as such, and it now looks as if they have a preferred partner in MSP Sports Capital, which is putting money into Everton.

“Now, initially it’s going to be a loan so there will be an interest charge but it looks as if these loans, at some point over the next few years, have an option to be converted into shares.”

Step one

Avoiding further financial misery by beating relegation and getting money put into the club to secure the future of the stadium development constitutes a good week for Everton.

The reasons for why MSP Sports Capital aren’t purchasing a straight share in the club from the off are unclear at this stage, but interest on a cash injection of as much as £150million is surely going to be more than loose change.

So it may caveat some of the relief felt among fans that the headline investment is here to ensure the short-term future of the stadium.

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Everton are planning to move from Goodison Park to their new stadium by 2025.

However, no investor is going to be doing so without looking for something in return so the hope has to be that the terms of whatever agreement is finally signed don’t store up any problems for further down the line.

There are so many different elements to the messy situation at Goodison Park that the club are going to need to produce plenty more good weeks through the summer if they are to avoid falling into the trap they did a year ago, of narrowly escaping a damaging relegation and then heading straight towards the same danger over the next 12 months.

Maguire’s current assessment is far more positive than it has been in a good amount of time, which is some small mercy, but there is still a long way to go.