Everton takeover update: ‘Doubts’ over 777 Partners at the hands of ‘beefed up’ Premier League owners test
There are “doubts” over whether 777 Partners would successfully pass the Premier League’s owners and directors test if they were to take over at Everton, according to The Guardian.
The newspaper reported via their website on 12 September that the American company is in “advanced talks” with Farhad Moshiri over a deal, and were “confident” of adding the Toffees to their “growing network” which includes Genoa and Hertha Berlin.
However, there is uncertainty over whether the “beefed up” owners and directors test would prove an insurmountable hurdle for the firm after “being accused of fraud and breach of contract” by Timothy O’Neil-Dunne who worked there between 2018 and 2021 – 777 Partners “strenuously deny” the allegations.
There have also been doubts raised over the company’s ability to purchase the club from Moshiri in the first place but discussions are now widely reported to have advanced.
Impossible?
Clearly 777 Partners must believe there will be no issue when it comes to the owners and directors test otherwise they wouldn’t have stuck around all year trying to invest in the club and have got to this stage.
And in the same way Moshiri must feel similarly if he is indeed at such an advanced point in talks to sell them the club.
But with the regulations reportedly enhanced as recently as last March it is effectively a new test to be negotiated that neither side may be entirely familiar with yet.
After the collapse of the MSP Sports Capital investment deal last month [The Athletic, 23 August] the prospect of a takeover that ends Moshiri’s reign in many ways seems to be exactly what the club’s long-suffering fanbase needs.
But with “caution” urged over 777 Partners in light of their dealings with other clubs around the world supporters are facing the prospect of yet more uncertainty even if a deal is done.
For the Toffees to go through the entire process of a takeover by the Miami-based company only for it to fall down at the hands of the owners and directors test would mean more upheaval, but some fans may be viewing that as the last hope to avoid a new regime that might not necessarily be an improvement on the current one.
In other Everton news, a Premier League player has commented on the turmoil at Goodison Park after he snubbed an offer this summer.