Everton takeover: Uncertainty rules as billionaire suitors left second-guessing Farhad Moshiri

A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the future of Everton as bidders for the club wait on Farhad Moshiri’s next move.

Seven days on from some of the opening submissions landing on the table of the majority shareholder, several involved in the process remain unsure what his next move will be - or what is driving his thought process.

Some on the periphery of talks claim to have struggled to get information on the plans of the 69-year-old as they attempt to track a process that has left billionaires waiting for updates on a decision that will define the club’s future.

Everton takeover: Bid 'backed by billionaires' submitted to Farhad Moshiri with 'cash ready to go'

READ MORE: Everton confirm new 'club record' Castore deal as update shared on home kit release

Moshiri’s search for an escape route from Everton is now in its third summer following the collapse of the deal that would have seen 777 Partners gain control of the club. The US consortium was the third party to reach an exclusivity agreement with the businessman - but all three have fallen through. The struggle to reach a resolution has left the club - and those charged with stewarding it - on unstable ground as it attempts to navigate the challenges of Premier League survival, spending regulations and the path towards the move into its new waterfront stadium next year.

The 777 Partners deal lasted eight and half months but its breakdown became increasingly likely as the group was hit by turbulence across its international business portfolio. Its failure to meet the May 31 deadline for its share purchase agreement opened the door for new investors to make a play for the keys to the Goodison Park and a flurry of proposals combined with a tangled web of vested interests is complicating a search that is being conducted amid a swirl of speculation.

Offers known to have been submitted last week include a bid led by local businessmen and Everton supporters Andy Bell and George Downing. Their proposal is understood to be backed by the merchant bank that handles the wealth of the tech billionaire Michael Dell, one of the richest men in the world. They are in competition with a £400m all-equity offer from a consortium of investors, including US investors and a Gulf royal, led by London-based businessman Vatche Manoukian. Details of a further submission have also now emerged, a fully-funded offer led by UK-based Vici Private Finance and advised by former Everton deputy chairman Keith Harris. The proposal is said to be backed by two billionaires, be ‘ready to go’ and have access to funding for both the short and long term rehabilitation of Everton. Work on it has taken place in the background for months, with the vehicle fronting the proposal incorporated just before the start of 2024 - the point at which 777 Partners had claimed its deal would be signed off by.

All three submissions were made last week during a period when some held the belief Moshiri planned to make a quick decision on his favoured bid. Instead they are all waiting on his call, with some left concerned by what has been described as a lack of information on the timeframe Moshiri is working towards. Some contacts said they had struggled to get a response across recent days as bidders have sought clarity on the state of play. For his part, Moshiri has not publicly set out a proposed timeframe for the process, with the collapse of the 777 Partners deal the catalyst for a statement released by Everton in which it was simply said the club would continue to operate as normal and work with Moshiri's Blue Heaven Holdings "to assess all options for the club’s future ownership".

Moshiri has long been of the belief he is in a strong negotiating position, a view enhanced by unsolicited approaches even while he was in an exclusivity arrangement with 777 Partners. Throughout that deal he maintained both a confidence in the Miami-based group and in the club’s position to the point where he was perplexed by outside concern over the viability and suitability of the wannabe owners, and over reports of a bleak outlook of the club’s finances - even during the gloomy days of late winter as Everton’s struggles on the pitch were set against concern the club was on life support provided by a consortium afflicted by the growing problems across its wider business that ultimately led to the collapse of its deal to take control of Everton.

An important feature of the process is that the share purchase agreement did not fall apart until the end of May, at which point Everton’s position was at its strongest in months. The club had overcome off-field chaos to secure Premier League survival, progress had continued on the new stadium throughout the instability and the cashflow situation was improved by season ticket money for the final year at Goodison Park, looming merit payments and TV money due from the Premier League, as well as the upcoming opening of the transfer window, a further opportunity to bring in external funding.

The extent and apparent credibility of the interest has given Moshiri plenty to consider. His decision-making process has also been made more complex due to the fact so many interested parties already have their fortunes entwined with Everton. Bell and Downing are existing creditors to the club who have been part of the conversation around its future for more than a year. Their involvement was first mooted as part of the MSP Sports Capital deal that fell through last summer. There are competing reports about the intentions of MSP and whether they are formally interested in taking over the club. But there is little doubt the group is paying close attention and holds influence due to the £158m loan to the club it provided at the start of last season. What can be said is that the US group chose not to trigger a clause to convert the debt into equity in the Blues back in April, when a missed repayment deadline sparked the beginning of the end for 777 Partners, which had been told by the Premier League to honour that payment in order to move closer to regulatory approval for the takeover. MSP has not responded to approaches for clarity from the ECHO.

MSP’s bid for an initial 25% foothold in the club ended last year as a result of objections by the biggest creditor to Everton, Rights and Media Funding. Around £225m is owed to the group, providing it with a say in developments. Meanwhile, perhaps most problematic for Everton’s future is the near £200m it now owes 777 Partners after the group spent nearly nine months covering operating costs while it failed to get its proposal over the line. The group may be in turmoil but its biggest backer, A-CAP, is seeking to protect what is now viewed as its cash and is another group currently in the picture. The issue posed by the lender is less whether it would offer a realistic option to Moshiri but more its ability to play spoiler to other plans. Moshiri did not slam the door on the relationship built during the 777 Partners deal and therefore key figures still have the potential to sway his thinking.

Other factors have added to the increasingly chaotic picture. John Textor is said to have been persistent in his contact with Moshiri but while his track record suggests he would have confidence in passing the Premier League’s Owners and Directors Test, the evidence of that is the stake he still currently owns in Crystal Palace. While his Eagle Holdings is seeking to sell that 45% share, the timeframe for any exit from Selhurst Park has always been prohibitive to any plans for Everton. His public comments, which came on the eve of the collapse of the 777 Partners bid, have still been key to this process and his belief Everton was a golden opportunity has proved to be shared by others given the interest that has followed. Not all interest has been as inspiring, however. One party, for instance, is said to have retreated from the picture after an opening salvo to representatives of Moshiri that included a problematic presentation that damaged its ambitions, seemingly beyond repair.

While uncertainty over the future ownership of the club continues, a resolution will not be imminent once Moshiri decides which bid to progress with. An exclusivity period in which the finer details - including what Moshiri may get to secure a departure in which he will likely have to write off his £450m of shareholder loans to the club - will be thrashed out. Any prospective new owner would also have to pass the regulatory checks that proved to be a hurdle too far for 777 Partners. The US group won approval from the Financial Conduct Authority, though that was time-limited, and had reportedly earned the green light from the Football Association. The length of time for the Premier League’s scrutiny will be dependent on the people it is subjecting to due diligence and their ability to show proof of funding and a clear vision for the future of the club. While another bidder may have success where 777 Partners failed, this is still a procedure likely to take up most of the summer.