Stadium loans from MSP are in place

Doesn't stop the shite journo's spewing out garbage, or the doomsayers on here believing it and moaning like fuck as usual.

*For "moaning like fuck" please see above.*

Nobody knows fully what is going on but it wouldn’t surprise me if Moshiri was trying to flush out more interested parties with the 777 story, as I can’t see any ink on any contracts this side of October 15th. After that date, just possibly, other investors will show their hand.

Related topic, I heard Sam Allardyce on TalkShite this morning. He certainly has an axe to grind and a chip on his shoulder. We are not in rude financial health but he made it sound even worse than it is.

Apparently we are in great peril with a dearth of quality on the pitch, a stadium that is only half-built and half-funded and the new buyers will fail the fit and proper persons test, basically. What a bellend. Trying to paint us in the blackest way possible, the negative tit.

Everton did not take any loans to buy players. Actually, have they paid anything this season for the players they have got?

That got me wondering about verification for this part of the story, where Paul the Esk got this info, and if any other sources were carrying this story in the same way. The only thing I could see was the despicable Goodison News glomming on to Paul's piece at his website, just moments after putting up another one of their fear-mongering masterpieces.

It seems to me that this was something Paul was genuinely worried about, and that he sees obviously as a very positive change for the better – which in itself is highly unusual for him.

I just assumed he must have seen fresh filings at Companies House confirming the loans... but no, there's nothing there beyond the old charges for Blythe Capital. So I'm guessing he must have got this first-hand from someone in the club or in the know.

But when you look back at the stories that flew around when MSP were blocked by Rights & Media Funding, killing their quest for a 25% equity position in the club, it was stated quite clearly then that the £100M funding for the stadium would still go ahead. So really this should not even be a story.

But I guess with confusion over the other MSP story, and very Evertonian fears that everything had hit the fan and we were doomed, then Paul's huge manifest relief at seeing this confirmed is understandable?

During my life, I've had plenty of dealings with USA companies and something seems fishy in this whole saga, of which this MSP might or might not be a part. 777 is not a partner that would excite Everton fans.

As I've asked on another post, is there any link between Dan Meis and 777 or even MSP? Dan has a lot of reputation at stake on the success of the new stadium. I think he seems an okay guy but I'm not so sure about the 777 Partners and MSP.

"Screw Moshiri while he's down" comes in to question.
I hope I'm wrong!

Or sell the Club, clear the debt / restructure, and move forward under new ownership.

Are there any other options I'm not thinking of?

One thing is for sure – our top priority must be to pay off the mountain of debt we've incurred and additionally not allow "shoot the moon" spending to ever occur at the Club again. We can't lose hundreds of millions in a single year ever again!

Can we all just relax and stop doubting the decision-making at Everton, because Brian says that everything will be fine.

Phew!!!

It seems that the people behind Rights & Media Funding are David Angus McKnight and Jonathan Durbin. McKnight is the chairman and CEO of the company, while Durbin is the managing director. Both men are supposedly experienced financiers with a long history of working in the sports industry.

David Angus McKnight is a former investment banker who has worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. He is also the chairman of Sports Investment Partners, a private equity firm that invests in sports businesses.

Jonathan Durbin is a former professional footballer who played for clubs such as Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic. He is also a qualified accountant and has worked in the sports finance industry for over 20 years.

Rights & Media Funding was founded in 2019 to provide loans to professional sports clubs. The company's first loan to Everton was made in September 2021, so I suspect the answer you are seeking for the person who got the loan off them might be a certain William Kenwright? Although maybe Grant Ingles was involved? I think it was worth £100 million and was used to help the club finance construction of the new stadium.

Looking forward to having a pint with you in a couple of weeks!

Mike, looking forward to seeing you again mate! Been too long! 🇺🇸

Perhaps I should hold up my hand and declare an interest: I've worked for one for many years... But the apparent crimes of 777 Partners are well documented and commented on above.

It remains to be seen if that record really is an impediment but, with the Premier League supposedly tightening up on the application of their fit and proper persons test, wouldn't it be 'Everton that' if we were to be denied key investment funding on those grounds?

That aside, you may be onto something with the Dan Meis connection. I'm reading that Dan Meis indeed has a connection to both 777 Partners and MSP Sports Capital!

He is a founding partner of Populous, an architecture firm that has designed stadiums for 777 Partners-owned clubs, such as Standard Liege and Vasco da Gama. He is also a consultant to MSP Sports Capital.

So the plot thickens…

Now if we get some murdering regime who have murdered hundreds of thousands of innocents in to takeover, then we will be okay with Mr Sunak back from God knows where, Pakistan or India is it?

Oh, wait a minute… 😱

Currupt government in the UK, my God oy Vey already.🙄

I suspect that 777 know exactly what they are doing, it is all about making money, but unless the club divest themselves of the current owner and the chairman, there is no prospect of moving forward at all. I would like to think of Dan Meis as our guardian angel, in ensuring the club is handled as the institution it is by our prospective owners!

Should a block be put on the 777 takeover, however, I would hope the club might seek legal advice on the basis that at least two other Premier League clubs are currently owned by companies who are no more than proxy concerns to enable nation states to play with their train sets in England.

There is surely a question of “natural justice” here, not to mention the abject past failure of the Premier League to adequately punish those clubs who proposed a break away to the so-called European Super League?

Michael, the fact he has links to both camps rubber stamps that there is surely something here that is more than a coincidence.

I also claim I own Community Chest and Chance. The supposed Free Parking Space also belongs to me and that I purchased the Gaol in a behind No10 brown envelope scenario.

As you can guess, I also own the Railway Stations having lent a Senior Cabinet Minister my Ferrari for a couple of months after his son, in a very pissed state, crashed it into a couple of pensioners in a Corsa – the case was hushed up as you can imagine and the Pensioners charged with careless driving. They were parked at the time!

I also get 30% of all tax collected plus a further 25% of all rental transactions on property and houses or hotels. If I draw the Complete Renovations on all properties and houses I own, I have a 100-year exemption, which I negotiated after telling a certain PM I would destroy certain photos I had of him and a certain Home Secretary involving a goat and a famous TV personality.

Other than that, I'm open to a fair and equitable game any time.

To paraphrase a certain Great Artist – “Corruption, Corruption… all is Corruption.”

We live in a Banana Monarchy, where the banana is the most bent banana you ever did see.

Good informative posts Michael K, and very intriguing with regards to Dan Meis, especially after watching how tight these narco groups tend to be!

I have no control over this, be it 777 or MSP.

Whoever it is or will be, they are doing it for investment.

I wish I knew, but right now, I'm more concerned about facing Arsenal on Sunday.

That would be a good outcome.

Maybe if they take over us and they need to raise funds, maybe they will adopt the same procedure? Mind, that seems a very high interest rate to pay out.

So get ready to open your piggy banks and, provided the fans will pay for it, we can solve our lack of funds to buy players, really?

However, as I posted on here previously the UK government has reportedly been tipped off by the US government that 777 are under scrutiny (early stage investigation?) over there.

For that tip to have happened it would have to be because there is suspicion of significant wrongdoing. The UK government and the Premier League will not want to simply swap one problem for another.

We need an Arab type investment otherwise we'll never dine at the top table and I can't bear the thought of not going toe to toe with the big boys ever again.

I'm sick of this mediocrity. We have to convince a big player to take us over. Why can't either of the 2 groups looking to buy Man Utd come and take us on and take us back to the top?

Consequently, I'm definitely not qualified to offer an opinion on the merits of either. However, what I can do is what I do when we're linked with a new player and that's tap into the respective selling clubs' fans' websites for their opinions. Because you can never rely on the jaundiced, and more often than not, purely fictional views from so-called professional media sources or ex-player pundits who have the IQ of a goldfish.

But views you can rely on are those from the fee-paying supporters, because they know what they pay to see every week and, like ourselves, they also know if things aren't right with their club.

Therefore, I'll merely leave you with Facebook comments posted by an Italian Genoa fan on this subject, without offering any further comment myself:

Matteo Caprile

“For us in Genoa they are a blessing. They may make some mistakes in sport management due to lack of experience, they are paying the debts of the old owner and they are restructuring the club at all levels. In fact annual season tickets reached an all-time record this year. I don't know Everton's financial situation, but Vasco's and Hertha's were desperate.”

And I would not buy suspected stolen property or do business with a child molester.

As always, success on the pitch and everyone's happy.

Poor results, especially for several seasons, brings doom, gloom and financial problems.

I don't know Mo, but he's said several times he wants investment, not to sell the club. So I believe that's what's going to happen.

The quickest way to fix any problem is to win trophies and if you can't win trophies, then be successful to your own standards.

So I'll not be writing a check, seeing the bank manager for a loan or ploughing my lottery (still dreaming) winnings into a football club other than to watch, visit and buy the usual merch, food or beer at wherever Everton play.

Now here's hoping for a successful season. I'll take a Top 17 finish right now.

Getting 3 points v Arsenal is crucial… but so is the livelihood and day-to-day running of Everton FC.

Thank you for your response.

I suspect there were counterparty deals that made it inevitable the loan transaction via MSP happened. But that seems to suggest it's not new money, just replacing the placemens' bridging loan, so the cashflow problems remain.

Of more interest are the terms and interest rate. Is this another party, like Rights & Media Funding, who can block a sale? What's the interest rate? What's the guarantee (I'm guessing the stadium is the collateral)?

As I understand it, MSP offered £150M originally with that extra £50m going into the club, seemingly in return for a 25% stake. That implies that Everton, excluding the current debt to the above parties plus Moshiri, is worth around £200m. But I don't think 777 will have offered that much, not also repaying Moshiri's loans in full.

Overall, financially, I think it's status quo, except maybe we have added another complication to a sale. Are there any other takers? If the Glazers called off the Man Utd sale, would that flush out one of their buyers? Here's hoping...

I would say it is news, as we have seen with plenty of examples around the club, nothing is done until it's done. At this point, the loan is vital and it's a relief that it is formalised.

For several weeks, I have openly speculated as to the risks of administration in the absence of fresh funding (be that equity or debt). It is self-evident that Everton have no financial reserves and they could not continue to meet operating costs and pay for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock out of revenue alone. Therefore, the analysis that, in the absence of fresh funding, administration was a possible outcome.

I also made the reasonable observation that, had MSP provided a loan to the stadium development company, then that would be secured with a charge in their favour filed at Companies House.

I have always made it clear to the club and any other associated party that, should any of my published analysis be incorrect, I would happily correct subject to evidence of the correct information or analysis. Ultimately I want to provide correct analysis and data for the benefit of Evertonians and Everton alike.

Two days ago, I was contacted by MSP's media team to inform me that the loans had actually been provided by MSP including Andy Bell as a limited partner over the period May to August of this year.As a result my, analysis regarding the potential threat of administration was at this time inaccurate.

I was also informed of Andy Bell's company, Blythe Capital, acting not only on his behalf but also as security agents for the whole MSP limited partnership. As a result of this information, with MSP's explicit approval, I was able to confirm (i) the loan (ii) the security arrangements including the role of Blythe Capital and (iii) as a result of this funding, the removal of any immediate threat of administration. The discussion with MSP and agreed actions were amicable and professional at all times.

There are wider questions of course. The reliance on debt not equity is deeply worrying especially in a relatively high interest-rate environment. This should be addressed by Moshiri but it is clear he is not in a position to do this, and that the capital restructuring will fall upon new owners (whenever that may be).

Nevertheless, the confirmation of funding has to be viewed as a positive given the wider context of the club's ownership and financial issues.

Additionally, there's a question as to why it's taken so long for the information to enter the public domain. An explanation in May would have provided a much more solid base upon which to enter the summer and would have stopped dead the concerns and thus narrative about how perilous Everton's stadium financing was. Yet again, Everton's communication strategy appears to have created difficulties when a more transparent approach would have provided benefits.

Apologies for the long post but I wanted to clarify and explain how this news came about.

I have long been bewildered by the inability of Moshiri's administration to learn how to communicate with the public. At the outset, I assumed it was just that he didn't know how -- Moshiri's previous companies have always been closely held businesses with no requirement or incentive for public disclosure -- but even when this strategy of silence discernibly backfired into near fan rebellion, outside of an occasion "fan letter", he has never progressed towards anything resembling public relations. And again in this case it has worked to his detriment with the fanbase.

The only thing that truly surprises me, however, is that the word never leaked out that the funds had changed hands. MSP is consummately professional and would of course keep a tight lid on the information, but I would honestly have expected somebody inside the club to tip off some journo at some point. Either it never happened, or said journo got the tip but was never able to confirm its accuracy.

I'm glad MSP gave you the call and the straight dope.

If the answer is Yes, I think this would stop many of our number fretting about the viability of the stadium project.

ps: As Mike has indicated in his post, this is very poor (non-existent) communication by the owner and the current board. Perhaps they have been silenced. Either way, it seems the rift between them and the fan base is irreparable. The sooner we part company, the better – a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Partly I was worried, but as you say there has to be some optimism in hearing MSP has provided funds for the continued stadium development.

I saw the latest official club website post on the stadium. Picking up on the opening statement that work had "re-commenced" would indicate it had stopped?

It half worries me, but then there seem to be enough hawks circling as longer term, we must be a good investment?

For years now, we haven't capitalised on our potential and stood still. We can go over that all day and every day.

Time to move forward. Out with the old and in with the new.

Ah, now it makes total sense. Much appreciated. Many thanks and apologies for my scepticism.

I was trying to figure out how much the club may have spent so far on the new stadium? I want to say it was about £300M through the end of FY 22-23?

So, by the simplest of maths, this loan would take them to perhaps £400M – still leaving a big hole on the supposed fixed cost of £505M, and ignoring cost escalations which must have occurred.

(I'm kind of ignoring the £760M figure Moshiri gave us as I recall the explanation for that was additional infrastructure and other works around Bramley-Moore Dock?)

My point with this being that, as others have said, it just kicks the can down the road – albeit for another very precipitous year in our perilous existence as a club. Will we not be in a similar situation, and in much need of at least another £100M (or even £200M?) next year in order to get the job done?

The stoppage was a direct response to the tragic death of Michael Jones. I think they were down for at least a week, and I imagine the HSE accident investigation would have taken up much of that time.

My belief, drilled into me by safety experts in the US, was that accidents can be avoided but you had to understand how they happened. There seems to be no such philosophy here in the UK — in fact almost the opposite. No-one wanted to address how Michael Jones had died until the inquest and then it only rated a brief one-line statement.

Surely talking more about the cause is an opportunity to reinforce how dangerous a simple thing like a scissors lift can be and to ram the message home about staying safe at all times?

In my experience H&S is taken very seriously in this country and regs are amended and working practices are changed after incidents llike this.

I have had the fortune of completing the NEBOSH diploma and the regs put in place are extensive and a great part of them are from unfortunate accidents.

Anyway going to work and not going home is never nice in any form.

RIP Michael Jones.

Edit, the inquest has been adjourned, not concluded.

I'm dealing with these fuckwit HSE guys 24-7. Doing a one-minute job takes an hour due to the bloody paperwork. Toolbox talks everyone sleeps but scratches their signature at the end.

As soon as money comes into play HSE, procedures etc go straight out the window. HSE guys, NEBSH and all are told to shut up, say nowt and read stuff in their office.

I could write a book!

My belief, drilled into me by safety experts in the US, was that accidents can be avoided but you had to understand how they happened. There seems to be no such philosophy here in the UK — in fact almost the opposite.

You really do need go watch how the H&S exec work. 7 years on from the Didcot A collapse of the boiler house the HS and a dedicated police team are still investigating the 4 deaths. It's complex sometimes.

As soon as money comes into play HSE, procedures etc go straight out the window

You are right and policies do not always match realities when push comes to shove. Ignore that and just get the job done

I am not in the building game, I just have a useless bit of paper that my employer insisted I pass.

Stay safe and tell them 'eff off' if asked to do anything dodgy.

I worked in Queensland Rail for some time, Management and Unions - when it suited them - both played the...'Don't do what I say - do what I really want you to do.

We were 'unofficially' told when there was an accident, do 3 things;

1) First Aid etc - if required.

2) Go and get Joe Bloggs, it was his job to carry a kit of all the standard PPE. He would then rush to the incident and – like a cop with a throw down gun at a 'bad shooting' – check the injured guy had his full complement of PPE, if he was missing any, even if it was totally unrelated to the Incident, throw down the missing glove or whatever.

3) Inform management.

It seems like yesterday Moshiri was being praised for 'wiping the clubs's debts'. He bloody changed his mind about that, didn't he? We are now loaded up good style.

But our chap has made a number of truly appalling business decisions. We all know about the player side, the crazy wages. But look at the stadium. For what it is we are getting, (10,000 extra seats, and a vastly improved offer to the commercial sector), who in their right mind would say 'I'll take it!' if the builder had rubbed his chin and said 'For you, I can do the lot for £750 million'. Revamping Goodison to get those extra seats could have been done for a tenth of the price.

So he's down literally hundreds of millions of pounds. And he wants to sell so bad. But he also wants to not walk away half a billion lighter. And he can't have both. And in such a scenario, the real danger for us I think is that if the club is effectively an Andre Gomes, whereby we are almost at the point of paying someone to take it on, such are the enormous debts.

Does the calculation become, actually I could make more money back by flogging both grounds and the playing staff, than by selling on the club as a whole?

Which is why the fire sale of the last year is particularly unnerving. Cos he's pretty much sold most now of the family silver. He was hoping to sell Onana too this year. Which basically leaves Pickford.

Our problems started with the man who brought Moshiri to Goodison Park.

We have a £200 million loan with the Rights and Media Funding which prohibited MSP taking a controlling share in the club, but they have agreed to a £100 million loan.

Somebody suggested these loans are costing the club £20 million a year in interest payments, I don't know whether Paul the Esk could confirm those interest payments. But it seems pretty certain that we are only paying off the interest on those loans.

I assume that a new owner will have to pay off those loans, as well as finance any shortfall to complete the stadium. Then there is the question of how much does Moshiri (& Usmanov) want back from their investment?

Moshiri is always a bit slow to read the room. If he is half as bad with communication about FFP risk in talks as with the public, of course buyers will try to wait for smoke to clear. In the meantime, Moshiri hopes that the team will rise in the table and allow a less painful exit of some sort.

I think it gets done with some prodding by the authorities. Moshiri doesn’t really have the acumen for this but is sitting on top of some prime real estate with the club and its holdings. He just can’t understand that he is the reason for its undervalued state.

I'm reliably informed we pay 12% on the R&MF loan and roughly 9 or 10% on MSP. That's around £34M a year.

We are very lucky to have someone as well informed as yourself to understand the financial implications at the club.

Seeing as these 2 loans are costing us £34m a year in interest payments, and I think the last set of accounts showed that about 90% of our income goes on wages, so player sales may be used for day to day running of the club.

Fans can only contribute so much to the cause, buying tickets, shirts etc. Big sponsorship, ie, household named companies are only interested in the clubs who have a realistic chance of on-field success. No rich individual is going to go down the same path as the likes of Moshiri, at a club similar in size to Everton ever again.

Of course there are winners in this strange economic landscape, the loan-sharks and the agents who all seem to take a huge chunk from football, without doing very much at all, apart from hoodwinking naive owners that they provide solutions, when in fact they only really add to the problems, that those owners face.

But really it was too much to expect that incompetent fools who allowed our expenditure to get out of control knew how to plan for the future. Maybe they've got the Stones or Macca lined up for a residency.

If it wasn't for the Ukraine War, I suspect we'd have been seeing Usmanov heading into the city to watch the unveiling of his new stadium. Strange days indeed...

I think you have it correct there. I've said previously, this is not really news in the sense that the money was already in the club through their UK placemen and my guesstimate (you or Paul might know better) is that the money likely runs out Q1 next year – I doubt we will be offered much in the way of credit by the builder given our financial risk.

So Moshiri is running out of time to get this resolved, presumably in the shape of an exit. The other option, which of course will horrify all of us, is kick the can down the road by fire-selling whoever we can sell in January.

If we got a Glasgow Rangers type fine and were dropped to the bottom tier in League Two, would you all still go the game?

Danny, would you still be on the train Sunday to watch us play Accrington Stanley?

If the answer is Yes from all of you, then our finances don't really matter as it's who's on the pitch that attracts us to a game – not the person(s) who own us.

If it's a No, then you don't really have a right to make comments.

But then I'm simple apparently!

But yes. Absolutely and unreservedly yes.

I'm as much an Evertonion as any other, but I've had enough of suffering watching Everton fail to rise to the occasion so often, I'm blowed if I'm spending time and money watching lower league football, because a bunch of owners and administrators didn't look after the club properly.

An ordinary relegation to the Championship and I would probably carry on watching but demotion to a tier lower than that because the club broke the rules, I'd be loathe to keep going the game.

The finances of the club, dictate who's out on the pitch, so whether you remain loyal or not, it really does matter who the owners are, and everybody has a right to choose what they would do and what they say on here or elsewhere.

The loan has landed because MSP, a tremendously savvy business group, is confident the stadium will be completed and they will have made a profitable investment when they are repaid with interest by whoever owns the club at that time.

And Usmanov didn't decree anything. He was sanctioned and his assets were frozen. It wasn't his call.

(PS... I am hoping that at least part of the repayment to MSP will be an ownership slice of the club. I still want them involved.)

My point has always been that most genuine fans enjoy watching football, their team, whichever league they are in. Your point does paint a pretty dramatic scenario but the answer from me is 'yes'.

...and there may be some genuine benefits, to wit, it might actually mean tickets are easier to get hold of - a nigh on impossibility these days unless you're a season ticket holder.