Everton takeover: 777 sources respond to credit hit amid ‘impossible’ deal claim – Paul Joyce
Sources close to 777 Partners insist that their latest credit rating hit has “no effect” on the Everton takeover, according to The Times.
Paul Joyce and Martin Ziegler report for the paper’s website on 19 February that after “respected credit ratings agency” AM Best downgraded the rating for the insurance arm of the prospective new Toffees owners 777 Re to C-, equivalent to “weak”, those around the Miami-based firm say it has no bearing on their football operations.
It is the second time in three months that 777 Re have had their rating reduced and Paul Quinn, The esk, reacted to the move in a decidedly more negative way, telling The Times: “It is impossible for me to see how the Premier League can give approval.”
Last week the Premier League asked 777 Partners for more information about the source of their funding for the buy-out deal, something they reportedly believed they had already done.
Everton takeover uneffected by 777 Partners credit downgrade?
It may be a separate area of their business but if Josh Wander and company were already struggling to convince the authorities to give their takeover the green light it is hardly a helpful development.
Just as the resignation of the company’s CFO, amid apparent large-scale departures, don’t necessarily derail the Everton deal in itself but are hardly going to inspire huge confidence among the Toffees fanbase or within the league office.
It is hard to imagine that 777 Partners would have planned to wait close to half a year for a verdict on their deal with Farhad Moshiri, while propping the club up with millions in loans – currently around £150million according to The Times.
So it would suggest the entire operation hasn’t gone entirely to plan, even if the more dire predictions for their business were misguided.
And the wait goes on, just as it does for the appeal verdict against the club’s 10-point deduction, all while the form on the pitch appears to have dried up.
The huge uncertainty on multiple major issues off the pitch surely can’t help but be affecting the players, so something’s got to give.
In other Everton news, a pundit has branded it “really, really sad” that a well-known player is now tipped to leave Goodison Park.
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