Updated Journalist Phlippe Auclair has played down rumours sparked by an article he wrote for Eurosport that appeared to suggest there is a specific investor ready to commit £1bn to Everton should 777 Partners’ takeover of the club fail.
Auclair is one arm of an investigative duo completed by Paul Brown who have now written 14 articles for Norwegian digital publication, Josimar, about 777, from their founding to their current financial struggles, and at the bottom of the Eurosport piece is an assertion that there is a new buyer waiting in the wings ready to come in straight away.
Observers like Paul “The Esk” Quinn have always maintained that there are other parties interested in buying out Farhad Moshiri’s stake in the club and have been throughout and, as Auclair says in a clarification on Twitter/X, that remains the case.
However, he moved to play down the idea that there is someone poised with £1bn to begin talks with Farhad Moshiri should 777 Partners either pull out or be denied in their attempt to buy the club.
“A clarification as regards Everton FC’s potential ‘other buyer’,” Auclair posted. “I fear that my recent Eurosport column about 777 has been partly ‘lost in translation’ in this respect. I can understand why, given how anxious the club’s fans are about the future of an institution they love.
“But I didn’t say… what I didn’t say. I repeated what Paul Brown and I have already written in our Josimar articles, which is that, yes, another party is interested in the club. That much is true. But their identity or resources I and we cannot and will not extrapolate about.”
777 Partners signed an agreement with Moshiri to purchase his 94.1% stake in the Blues back in September last year but, despite internal confidence that the process could be wrapped up by Christmas, the investment group are still waiting for a verdict from the Premier League to find out if they have passed the Owners’ and Directors’ Test.
No timeline has been given for the decision but it is clear that the League are considering the fitness and ability of 777 to own and continue to fund Everton.