MSP Sports Capital are “exploring” buying Everton as 777 Partners’ takeover bid appears to be hitting the skids amid reports Farhad Moshiri may pull the plug on the deal he struck with them in September.
According to Paul Joyce in The Times, Everton’s majority shareholder is finally considering alternative options to 777 Partners as the Miami-based private equity firm face mounting financial challenges and fresh legal jeopardy in the form of a lawsuit by two London-based lenders alleging massive fraud.
That could open the door once more to MSP, who were on the verge of taking a 25% stake in the club last summer in return for an initial investment of more than £150m in convertible debt but withdrew from talks with Moshiri in late August, reputedly because Everton’s senior creditor, Rights & Media Funding, disagreed with the valuation that arrangement put on the Club.
Led by local businessmen, Andy Bell and George Downing, a group of MSP investors went through with loaning Everton £158m, the majority of which went towards further construction of the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, while 777 Partners later came to a heavily incentivised agreement with Moshiri to buy his 94.1% stake.
However, almost eight months later, the transaction has still not been completed due to the Florida company having failed to meet the Premier League’s conditions for approval, most notably the repayment of MSP’s loan which was due on 15 April this year until an extension was granted until later this month.
Now, according to reporting by Jamie Nimmo and David Hellier of Bloomberg, and lent further credence by Tom Morgan in The Telegraph, MSP Sports Capital, who are helmed by former sport agent Jeff Moorad and businessman Jahm Nahjafi, are revisiting the prospect of buying Everton with the Club facing the mounting threat of Administration.
Neither Moshiri’s camp nor New York-based MSP responded to Bloomberg’s request for comment but Morgan reports that Bell and Downing “would be seriously interested in at least part-ownership” of Everton.