Premier League minded to approve Everton takeover by 777 Partners with strings attached to deal
Kieran Maguire believes it will be “tough” for 777 Partners to overcome the four hurdles that have been put in front of it to complete an Everton takeover.
Speaking on The Price of Football podcast on Thursday (28 March), the football finance expert said Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri is going to have to write off the loans that are due to him, while the US investment firm needs to convert its existing loans to the club into shares.
He added that the Toffees’ other existing loans will probably need to be repaid over 10 years from revenue generated from the new stadium and the group need to provide the Premier League with extra information on where it gets its funding from before it receives the necessary approval to take over.
“The Premier League, by all accounts, is minded to approve 777 as potential owners,” said Maguire. “However, it’s fair to say that there are strings attached. By all accounts, Farhad Moshiri is going to have to write off all of the loans that are due to him, so we are talking effectively hundreds of millions of pounds.
“777’s existing loans would have to be converted into shares, so there is no repayment to 777. The existing loans, which they’ve taken out, would have to be repaid, probably over the next 10 years, presumably from the additional revenues generated from the stadium. 777 would have to give further details with regards to where they’re getting their money from.
“They are four quite tough hurdles, but at least we’ve got a bit of news if not necessarily all of the news that I think would give Evertonians some clarity one way or the other.”
777 Partners must start providing answers in Everton takeover saga
It still feels like we are some way away from receiving a final verdict on whether or not 777 will be able to complete its takeover at Everton.
The odds do seem to be stacked against the group given that it hasn’t been able to satisfy the Premier League over its financial situation throughout this process.
If it hasn’t been able to provide any answers to move matters forward in that time, then there are huge question marks around whether or not it’s the right fit for the Toffees over the long term.
There is still a chance, however, that it could overcome the many hurdles that have been put in place by the league and the deal, which was agreed back in September, could go through.
But that doesn’t seem very likely at this moment in time, meaning Moshiri will have to go back to the drawing board and potentially dip into his pocket to ease the financial concerns.
In other Everton news, Jeff Stelling has mooted a £45million exit for one Toffees star.
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