777 Partners now ‘pessimistic’ over chances of Everton takeover approval from Premier League – Paul Brown
Paul Brown has suggested that insiders at 777 Partners are now “pessimistic” about the American firm’s chances of being granted Premier League approval to takeover Everton.
777 Partners agreed to a deal to acquire Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent stake in the Toffees back in September and while they have been approved by the financial conduct authority, they have yet to be given the go-ahead by the Premier League.
Throughout the process, the Miami-based firm have remained publicly confident that they will be given the all-clear, but freelance journalist Brown has suggested that behind the scenes, 777 aren’t quite as convinced.
As quoted by Give Me Sport (15 January) he said: “So we’ve heard from insiders at the company that as a group, they’re now pessimistic about their chances of being granted approval.
“In public, they sound a very different tone, but there are people inside the company who don’t think this is going to happen now. One way or another 777 can’t keep pumping loan money into the club indefinitely.
“It’s becoming quite a big drag on their finances, which at the moment are stretched, and they need an answer one way or another, which is why I think you’re seeing a few stories coming out the last few weeks.
“A lot of the briefings given to journalists by 777 are not the kind of thing that you would associate with a group that have huge confidence that they are going to get this done, because if they were confident it was going to happen, they wouldn’t be saying anything at all.
“They’d be keeping their mouth shut because they don’t need to say anything. You only need to say something if you don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Pessimistic
This takeover saga has dragged on for longer than anyone at Everton or 777 Partners would have liked, but if Brown’s verdict is true, it could be drawing to an end sooner than most people expected.
If people within the company already believe that this deal won’t get over the line, it seems incredibly unlikely that they will be granted approval. All the comments from within the firm so far have suggested that the takeover is all but guaranteed to occur.
Everton need new owners as they are only heading one way under Moshiri, but they could well dodge a bullet completely if 777’s deal falls through at this stage.
There has been little to suggest that the American firm is a fit and proper owner to take control of the Toffees and while the potential other option is administration, it could be better than coming under the 777 umbrella.
In other Everton news, Henry Winter has provided the details on when the PSR committee can meet to discuss the Toffees new alleged breaches