New York-based investment firm MSP Sports Capital remain in ‘advanced’ talks with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri over a stake in the football club.
Moshiri has been keen to bring on board fresh capital into the business for some months, aiming to sell a portion of his 94 per cent shareholding that he holds in the club through Blue Heaven Holdings Limited.
The Toffees, who announced a £44.7m loss in their most recent financial accounts released last month for the year ending 2021/22, have been in play for outside investment for some time, with Moshiri having discussions around a full takeover that reached a period of exclusivity with a consortium containing former Manchester United CEO Peter Kenyon, US real estate tycoon Maciek Kaminski and oil magnate John Thornton last summer.
MICHAEL BALL: I know exactly how Ben Godfrey is feeling after Everton experience that still haunts me
READ MORE: James Garner makes Everton claim as Sean Dyche ponders midfield decision
That deal never materialised and Moshiri pivoted to focus his attention on seeking minority investment to help recapitalise the business, as well as seeking funding for the the completion of the build of the club’s £500m stadium development currently under construction on the banks of the River Mersey at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Last month the club were also landed with charges from the Premier League relating to alleged breaches of the League’s profit and sustainability regulations, allegations that the club deny and say they will contest ‘robustly’ when they appear before an independent commission at a later date.
There has been suggestions that the charges and the continued struggles both on and off the field, with the club sitting one place outside the bottom three in the Premier League on level points with Nottingham Forest with eight games remaining, were putting off potential investment into the club.
MSP, the firm run by US billionaire Jahm Najafi and former sports super agent Jeff Moorad, have been in the frame since the turn of the year and Najafi, Moorad and MSP vice-president Peter Taylor were all in attendance at Goodison Park for the home defeat by Southampton back in January.
That deal went quiet for a few weeks before Najafi was linked via a report in the Financial Times with a £3bn-plus takeover bid for Tottenham Hotspur, a move that was denied by sources that the ECHO had spoken to in the US.
Other interested parties were understood to have held some tentative with Everton over the past couple of months, including the prolific Miami-based multi-club investors 777 Partners, while MSP have remained at the table for discussion since they first approached the club at the turn of the year.
The New York firm, according to financial sources in the US, are now looking at advancing talks with Moshiri and hammer out a deal to acquire a stake in the club, with discussions centred on how the deal will be structured financially.
The percentage that Moshiri was willing to relinquish was not known, but it is expected that should any deal with MSP be successful then they would have some element of board representation that would afford them some operational control, in line with how they have invested in sports previously.
Speaking in a guest editorial for US sports business website Sportico in March of last year, Moorad wrote: "At MSP Sports Capital, we only pursue investments with operational control or significant influence.
"Fundamentally, investors are attracted to the disproportionate annualised returns available in sports, with limited relative downside risk. In order to achieve favourable risk-adjusted returns, investing discipline remains critical in an industry where emotion can easily take hold of the uninitiated. We believe it’s critical to evaluate both macro dynamics (trajectory of the sport, league management, league competition, regulatory environment) and micro dynamics specific to the asset (management team, brand power and digital presence, fan/sponsor loyalty, local market dynamics and real estate opportunities)."
READ NEXT:
Everton midfielder in talks to leave as Belgian side steal advantage on Celtic and Rangers
Ben Godfrey under threat as Sean Dyche could ring Everton changes after United
Frank Lampard move raises big Everton question with an uncomfortable answer
-
Sean Dyche facing major Everton conundrum as Man United issue becomes clear
-
Remembering James Vaughan's big day with pictures of Everton's 10 youngest Premier League scorers
