US investment fund 777 Partners are close to agreeing Everton takeover deal
- An American investment fund is on the verge of reaching an agreement on a stunning takeover of the club
- 777 already owns a number of football teams and a British basketball team
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off
American investment fund 777 Partners is on the verge of closing a stunning deal to take over Everton.
In May, Mail Sport revealed that 777 Partners had led the race to buy the Toffees, but their £600m offer had not been enough to convince unpopular owner Farhad Moshiri to sell.
Rival American MSP Sports Capital then became confident they could close a deal for the club, but that also fell through last month.
After MSP Sports Capital pulled out of the race, 777 Partners are now close to completing a deal to buy the Merseyside club.
Mail Sport reported that 777 became uncertain about their investment in May as they demanded a guarantee that Everton would play in the Premier League this year.
Everton are on the verge of completing a historic sale of the club to US investment company 777 Partners
777 Partners – led by Josh Wander (pictured) – have long had an interest in the Toffees
According to a Liverpool echo April report 777 has more than $6 billion in assets under management.
That number would of course skyrocket if they added Everton to their portfolio.
Based in Miami, Florida, 777 was founded in 2015 and is led by managing partners Steven Pasko and Josh Wander.
The company’s website describes its mission as “to build a self-sustaining company that is not dependent on banks and outside investors, to overcome the inherent compromises they saw in the prevailing model.”
And while 777 has built a formidable fleet of sports franchises (more on that later), it is also involved in other sectors.
The company has included aviation in its portfolio, while insurance and fintech also belong to that group.
777’s chances of taking over Everton seemed to have disappeared in May, after MSP Sports Capital became the frontrunner.
Farhad Moshiri is said to be close to selling the club he bought in 2016
The American investment group, whose co-founders Jahm Najafi and Jeffrey Moorad have attended matches at Goodison Park, signed an exclusivity deal with Everton earlier this summer and aimed to make a £150 million investment in the club.
But that complicated deal, which saw two-thirds of the investment go to owner Farhad Moshiri’s subsidiary, Everton Stadium Development Co, is now dead after an existing lender thought the deal would not ensure the club received enough money in return for equity.
The New York company would still go ahead with the £100 million loan to the stadium company, but Everton will not receive a hard windfall from MSP.
More to follow…