Everton: Easy MSP Sports Capital takeover verdict emerges amid 777 Partners cash scramble
MSP Sports Capital are “very unlikely” to ever become the long-term owners of Everton despite the possibility they could acquire a majority stake in the club, according to Paul Brown.
The journalist, who has been reporting regularly on the takeover situation alongside Philippe Auclair for Josimar, reacted via Twitter on 10 April after the news that 777 Partners were scrambling to raise cash ahead of the repayment deadline for £158million in loans from MSP.
If the money isn’t repaid by Monday (15 April), a key condition from the Premier League for the takeover go ahead, MSP could acquire the Toffees as the loan was secured against Farhad Moshiri’s majority stake, but Brown suggests the company’s chairman Jahm Najafi has shown no signs of wanting to do so after having failed to land a 25% stake last summer.
Dave Powell wrote for the Liverpool Echo earlier on 10 April: “If 777 doesn’t meet all of the conditions set out, including repayment of the MSP loan, then majority ownership of the club could pass to MSP, who would then have the task of cleaning up the asset and finding new buyers, which might not be a particularly appealing task, even if it may represent a chance to get a considerable return on the monies paid, given they were willing to part with £150m for 25% equity a year ago.”
But Brown’s view is: “I think people are getting carried away by possibility MSP take ownership stake in EFC. Jahm Najafi alone could easily fund a full takeover but there are no suggestions he wants to.
“Very unlikely MSP are ever long term owners of club now. Kingmakers, not kings.”
Jahm Najafi and MSP not interested in Everton acquisition?
After MSP’s attempt to become minority owners at Goodison Park fell through in the wake of an objection by credits Rights and Media Funding Ltd [The Athletic, 25 August] their involvement ended up being restricted to providing loans for the stadium project.
However, there had previously been reported interest from Najafi in full ownership of a Premier League club amid links to a bid for Tottenham, and apparent considerations of achieving that with Everton.
Certainly, acquiring Moshiri’s shares for the same money they were willing to put in to buy a quarter of the Toffees would drop a unexpected major opportunity into their laps, and in light of the relative views on MSP and 777 might be exactly what some Evertonians hope occurs.
But with hundreds of millions owed in various different directions, regular injections of funds required just to keep the day-to-day running of the club on track, and the vital stadium construction still to see through, it is anything but a simple prospect.
And that is long before any investment is considered that actually manifests itself on the pitch, if there were even scope for a transfer spend at a time when Everton are at risk of a third profit and sustainability breach as it is.
777 can’t officially be ruled out yet, but perhaps neither can MSP, although based on the latest developments around the former and Brown’s view on the latter it may be the illusive third party that the future comes to hinge on.
In other Everton news, Nottingham Forest’s super silk Nick De Marco has issued congratulations over the Toffees’ “interesting” second points deduction case.
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