John Textor releases Everton and Crystal Palace statement after takeover news
Crystal Palace chief John Textor has released a statement to address his pursuit of a majority purchase of Everton.
The American businessman wrote the statement on Thursday 22 August on his official website to confirm his intentions to sell his 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace.
Textor has been on Merseyside for further talks with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri to close a deal by the end of the week [The Guardian] after failing in an attempt to assume majority ownership of Crystal Palace.
He said: “We can confirm that we are interested in selling our interest in Crystal Palace, largely so that we can pursue a relationship with the Everton club and community.
“It is true that we made an offer to buy the remaining shares of Crystal Palace, at a valuation that far exceeds levels of prior investment. We did so with a strong belief that Palace has become a much more valuable club, since 2021, and we respected our partners enough to offer fair value, regardless of circumstances.
“It is also true that our offer did not induce a response, and we believe that our Palace partners have the same desire to remain in ownership as we once did…so our Raine Group efforts to sell our interests resumed.
“We have a significant number of parties active in our process, we have received strong indications from qualified buyers, and we believe strongly that we can complete a sale of our interests to continue moving forward with the next community we hope to serve, embrace and enjoy.”
John Textor could be the new owner of Everton
The Everton takeover has been far from straightforward, and at one stage, looked set to fail again had Textor been successful in his attempts to purchase Crystal Palace outright.
777 Partners and the Friedkin Group also entered a period of exclusivity with the club but neither could finalise a deal with Moshiri.
Now, all that is preventing the Blues from new ownership is the sale of Textor’s 45 per cent stake, supporters may not have to wait for long as two offers are being considered with four more investors holding a concrete interest in the shares.
Everton fans will be anxiously awaiting confirmation of the takeover, and rightfully so, but unlike his predecessors, Textor is no fool.
The Blues are a sleeping giant, the finances at the club have been well-documented but all the Premier League outfit needs is a business-savvy owner to steady the ship and then reap the rewards of the potential commercial revenue.
Moshiri’s days on Merseyside are numbered [Stefan Borson], the supporters just need to wait a little longer before they can start looking forward to the long-term future of the club.
In other Everton news, Jake O’Brien’s decision is set to haunt Sean Dyche at the Blues.
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