As expected, the Friedkin Group have entered exclusive talks with Farhad Moshiri over the purchase of his 94.1% stake in Everton.
The news was first reported by the Financial Times and has since been confirmed in a statement by the Club.
The Texas-based firm, led by billionaire Dan Friedkin, emerged as Moshiri’s preferred bidder last week and, according to people “with knowledge of the matter”, can now push ahead with finalising their due diligence and the paperwork ahead of an anticipated takeover of the Club.
BBC Sport’s Shamoon Hafez tweets that the “intention is for a smooth sale process … which will take weeks rather than months”.
According to Sky Sports’ Alan Myers, the commercial terms are in place between the two parties but the deal will be subject to Premier League approval via their Directors and Owners Test which is not expected to be an issue.
However, the FT’s report urges caution given the unpredictabiity of dealing with Moshiri who is reputed to have moved the goalposts on at least one bidder in what has been a drawn-out process of trying to sell his stake in the Blues.
“It is absolutely not a done deal,” warned one source in their report, although other sources have confirmed that despite being aware of the possibility of “skeletons in the closet”, Friedling is “100 committed” to following through with the purchase.
As the FT explain, no details of the Friedkin Group’s bid for Everton are known but consultancy Football Benchmark recently valued the club at “between €519m and €574m, including debt”, thanks in large part to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Friedkin is worth around $6bn and his firm, which owns Gulf States Toyota and has interests in resorts, golf courses, aviation and cinema, double that.
They also own AS Roma following a $700m acquisition in 2020, as well as French fourth-tier club AS Cannes.