Paul Brown says 777 Partners have been advised not to go ahead with Everton takeover
Journalist Paul Brown has claimed that Josh Wander, the co-founder of 777 Partners, has been advised by colleagues not to go ahead with the proposed takeover of Everton.
Brown shared that Wander is personally very determined to go ahead and invest in Everton, having spoken to the club for months regarding the purchase, but has been advised otherwise by people inside his company.
It is also stated that the investment will make sense for 777, with a Premier League club the only thing missing from their portfolio, with a minority stake the most likely investment option.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT on 12 September, Brown said: “I think it’s possible that whoever comes in will be taking a minority stake just because the valuation that the current owner has on his own shareholding is so high that it’s difficult to see anybody investing for more than a minority stake.
“They’ve been talking to the club for many months about a potential deal. I’ve heard there’s a financing package in the market for them and that Josh Wander is personally very determined to invest in Everton.
“I also hear that there are several colleagues inside his company who have advised him not to go ahead with an attempt to invest in Everton. So I think we will have to see.
“A Premier League club is basically the one thing missing from 777’s multi-club portfolio, and their business plan involves investing in distressed assets. So, it makes sense for them to be interested in an investment in a team like Everton. We will see.”
Plenty of questions still to be answered
With this takeover seemingly edging closer to completion by the day, with the Telegraph [12 September] most recently reporting that advanced talks are underway between 777 Partners and the club, there are still a number of questions to be answered.
The size and scale of their investment is still yet to be confirmed, although the size of the controlling stake in the club owned by Farhad Moshiri is seemingly making a full takeover unlikely.
Brown’s comments will also raise suspicions around the investment. If members of his own company are advising him against the decision, the choice to push forward with the investment may be considered too big of a risk.
Recently, fans of Standard Liege, another club owned by 777 Partners, protested against their ownership, claiming it was damaging the future of the club, having seen their club slip to a sixth-place finish last season and endure a difficult start to this campaign.
In other Everton news, a supercomputer has predicted relegation for the Toffees.