George Overhill

Thu 26 October 2023 12:10, UK

It is “highly unlikely” that 777 Partners will walk away from their planned takeover of Everton “regardless” of the outcome of the independent commission ruling, according to Dave Powell.

The Liverpool Echo journalist reported via the newspaper’s website on 26 October that, despite The Telegraph reporting a day earlier that the Premier League were seeking a 12 point deduction punishment for a single alleged profit and sustainability breach, “all possible permutations” from the hearing had been “priced in” to the deal already.

The price that 777 eventually pays Farhad Moshiri is subject to change if a “severe points deduction” makes relegation a “very real prospect” but ultimately it is reported that sources maintain that it is “unlikely” to “deter” the Americans from pushing ahead with their takeover.

Powell wrote: “The findings of the independent commission and any possible punishment isn’t something that 777 Partners haven’t prepared for, with sources telling the ECHO that all possible permutations, including fines and potential points deductions, were declared during the period of due diligence and have been ‘priced in’ to deal to acquire the club.

“The price that is eventually paid by 777 Partners, if they are successful in acquiring the club, could change depending on a severe points deduction that ultimately makes relegation to the Championship a very real prospect, impacting the value of the business, is understood to have the potential to change depending on the circumstances.

“Given the lack of a previous case of a similar nature, quite what the outcome will be can’t be second guessed, but it also can’t be directed by the Premier League, who brought the charges. The independent commission is, as its name suggests, independent.

“But whatever the outcome, sources maintain that it is unlikely to ‘deter’ 777 Partners from pushing ahead with their plans to acquire the football club.”

Unmoved

Since the referral to the independent commission came down in March, prior to the agreement between 777 and Moshiri at the end of the summer, it would have been a significant oversight for both partners to have not discussed these possibilities already.

So it is perhaps little surprise that the buyers appear not to have been turned off by the prospect of a major punishment if the club, who maintain they have operated within the rules, are found against.

777 appear to target struggling clubs and the situation at Everton has been obviously precarious for some time, so it likely shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to them that the situation has the potential to get worse.

The prospect of relegation has variously been mooted to be ruinous to the Toffees, and survival in that instance is surely going to come down to the owner’s ability to bankroll the operation in straightened circumstances.

It would appear that Moshiri’s ability or willingness to do so has run out, so absent a third option it looks like it is going to have to be 777 who shoulder that burden.

Amid delays to the takeover process and suggestions that they have missed deadlines to prove what money they have available there are sure to be concerns over their ability to do that.

But, logically, if they are intent on buying a club that has only escaped the drop by the barest of margins for the past two years they must have a plan in place for that eventuality.

Based on their record elsewhere there is thought to be doubt over their expertise in rescuing a club the size of Everton but it looks like they might be the club’s only hope currently.

In other Everton news, a Sky Sports pundit raged at what he saw on the channel as he called out a “joke” situation before a colleague responded.