Dan Friedkin pays off £158m Everton loan in show of strength to 777 Partners
Incoming Everton owner Dan Friedkin has already overcome the stumbling block which derailed 777 Partners' takeover, paying off a £158million loan to MSP Sports Capital, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The newspaper reported on 24 June that having entered an exclusivity period to complete their takeover from Farhad Moshiri in recent days, the Friedkin Group have injected £200million into the club.
£158million of that amount is to pay off a loan given to the club by MSP Capital last summer, a loan which 777 Partners proved unable to tackle prior to their share purchase agreement expiring on 31 May [Tariq Panja, 1 June].
Despite pumping £200million into the club themselves having struck a deal with Moshiri last September, 777's inability to pay off the loan meant they fell foul of the Premier League's owners and directors tests.
Dan Friedkin means business with latest Everton takeover move
The fact that the Friedkin Group have paid off MSP's £158million loan within weeks of first declaring their interest to Moshiri, shows just how much time has been wasted in Everton's prolonged takeover saga.
After over nine months of talks going in circles between the Iranian businessman and 777 Partners, Friedkin tackling a seemingly immovable obstruction gives off the impression that a sensible transition of ownership is finally set to take place [Daily Mirror, 1 June].
Toffees fans, having listened to Moshiri, 777 and the Premier League engage in stalemate after stalemate, were dreading the prospect of another unreliable ownership structure, with big questions over the Miami-based group's ability to fund their operation [Kieran Maguire, 30 May].
Thankfully though, within just weeks of 777's ownership bid collapsing, the Friedkin Group have shown that they will bring a serious and steady hand to steer the ship from here on in; news which the Goodison Park faithful have been dreaming of for a long time.
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