John Textor claims that he and his financial backers were 24 hours away from owning Everton before The Friedkin Group stepped in with the takeover bid that remains on track for completion before the end of the year.
TFG signed an agreement in September committing to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake the Blues and, with reports suggesting the group’s bid has been given approval by the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority, it might only be a matter of weeks before the transaction goes through.
The Houston, Texas-based firm still need to pass the Premier League’s more stringent Owners and Directors Test before they can proceed but, if another American billionaire is to believed, Everton were “very close” to ending up in different hands.
In a recent interview with Olé in Brazil, where Textor’s Eagle Football Group have a controlling interest in Botafogo, the Missouri-born entrepreneur said:
“[W]e thought we were very close to Everton. I think I’ll probably say it for the first time publicly now. We didn’t realise that we were 24 hours away, our documents were ready, and we were ready to send the money and they were still going through a bidding process with another buyer.
“Sometimes you can achieve a lot with a handshake. Other times you need more than a handshake. And that was a situation where we lost because we were too confident in the outcome.
“So, I make mistakes. The Everton thing didn’t happen; there’s probably a reason for that. I think there are reasons for everything and I think we’re going to end up with a better situation in the Premier League. And there’s a reason why that didn’t happen and something else will.”
Textor had emerged as a potential suitor for Moshiri’s majority stake earlier this year once it became clear that 777 Partners’ attempt to buy Everton was doomed to failure.
He was among a host of names that reportedly came forward, including Evertonian businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing together with their partners at MSP Sports Capital, Vatche Manoukian, Vici Private Finance, 777’s backers A-CAP, and TFG themselves; after the Friedkins initially ended a period of exclusivity with Moshiri’s Blue Heaven Holdings in July, Textor appeared to be the front-runner.
As late as 19 September, he claimed that his proposed takeover was “progressing well” and he even went as far as to discuss with Sky Sports News correspondent, Alan Myers, potential player acquisitions from South America and what sort of manager he might hire in place of Sean Dyche.
That prompted a statement from Everton’s interim CEO, Colin Chong, distancing the club somewhat from the confidence being exuded by Textor where he said: “While positive conversations and progress continues to be made with Mr Textor to formalise any deal with him, there remains some work to be done to complete the transaction. Accordingly, the comments made by Mr Textor merely represent his personal view on club matters.”
Less than a fortnight later, The Friedkin Group struck a deal with Moshiri, sidelining Textor and forcing him to focus on his difficulties at Olympique Lyonnais who, just this week, were provisionally relegated from Ligue 1 for violating spending rules.
Just how close Textor was to buying Everton is unclear. The chief stumbling block in his way was his 45% stake in Crystal Palace through Eagle Group, a fact he hoped to circumvent by structuring his offer for the Blues under his own name with the support of Aliya Capital, though there were no guarantees the Premier League would agree that represented sufficient separation.
As speculation continues that he is close to finding a buyer for his Palace shares, Textor says his sights remain set on acquiring another Premier League team.