John Textor is in Liverpool to hold further talks with Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, over a proposed takeover of the club, with a deal expected to be agreed by the end of the week.
The American billionaire became the third party to be granted a period of exclusivity by Blue Heaven Holdings, the company that owns Everton, last week after renewing his efforts to purchase a majority stake in the Premier League club having initially been overlooked by Moshiri in favour of the Friedkin Group. They had agreed to buy Moshiri’s 94.1% stake but withdrew over concerns about the legal uncertainties surrounding the £200m in loans that 777 Partners, the first company to agree a takeover back in September, gave the club. It is understood that a £200m loan made to Everton by the Friedkin Group during their attempt to take over the club is due to be repaid.
Textor, whose Eagle Football Group already has stakes in Lyon, Botafogo, Molenbeek and Crystal Palace, is understood to have arrived in London on Tuesday before travelling to Liverpool on Wednesday to meet Moshiri, with sources close to the deal anticipating that it could be agreed in the next few days.
The terms are the same as in the offer made on 1 June in the previous round of bidding, with Textor understood to be confident that arranging a financing deal for Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock could allow him to delay completing the takeover until as late as January.
A potential complication could be the requirement of Textor to sell his 45% stake in Palace in order to comply with Premier League rules. A bid from compatriots Josh Harris and David Blitzer, who already own 18% stakes in Palace, for around £100m is understood to have been rejected. Three other investors are believed to have expressed an interest in buying Textor’s shares, including one from the Middle East and another said to be a sports-celebrity-backed group from the US.
Last week the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, said he would not stand in Textor’s way after he paid £87.5m for a 40% stake in Palace in 2021 before extending it to 45% when he bought Lyon a year later. “He wants a club that plugs into that where he controls everything that happens. We don’t think that is right for us as a club right now,” Parish told the BBC. “We do collaborate with his clubs where we can. He wants to go and do something else, we’re helping him do that.”
