Inside 777 Partners chaos as Josh Wander stance on doomed deal and new Everton payments explained

While no confirmation has been forthcoming from either side, 777 Partners’ bid to acquire Everton is all but dead.

The past fortnight has seen the hopes of the Miami-based investment firm unravel following a series of issues, from the collapse of its budget airline Bonza into voluntary administration, to the civil suit brought against them by Leadenhall Capital alleging fraudulent practice, to claims of staff at one of 777’s portfolio of clubs, Standard Liege, go unpaid.

Late last week it was reported that Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, who agreed on a deal with 777 back in September of last year to acquire his 94.1% shareholding and had continued to support their bid publicly until very recently, had broken off the relationship with the firm, run by Josh Wander and Steven Pasko.

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Quite where that situation sits is something of a grey area. Multiple sources the ECHO has spoken to have said that Moshiri has moved on from 777 and pivoted to a search for other potential suitors, but due to potential contractual obligations that still exist has not made a public declaration to that effect.

Only last week it emerged that 777 took the working capital that they had provided to the football club since the turn of the year to more than £200m after another £8m payment was made.

There was understandable confusion about how and why 777, a company that is facing an avalanche of bad press, legal issues, and problems raising capital, would be providing more financial support to a club they now have next to no chance of acquiring.

It is understood that the provision of capital to Everton was part of the agreement of Moshiri to sell the club to 777, with the firm contractually bound to make certain payments at certain times, according to sources. The latest payment was claimed to be another part of that, with the agreement still live and 777 still contractually obliged. They would likely not want to face another lawsuit, while they also probably realise that the best chance of getting their money back lies with them providing additional funding given that their £200m-plus is through unsecured junior debt, meaning they would be behind the likes of Rights and Media Funding Limited, Metro Bank, and MSP Sports Capital in the event of any administration proceedings. It is important to clarify that administration is not something being considered by the football club at present, with a number of viable alternatives before such action is taken.

777 Partners last week called in restructuring experts to try and steer the faltering business in the right direction, a move that saw Wander and Pasko both removed from the board and taken away from the decision-making process according to people the ECHO has spoken to. Don Dransfield is understood to now be leading the 777 Partners football group plans in the short term, which has Standard Liege, Red Star Paris, Hertha Berlin, Genoa, Melbourne Victory and Vasco da Gama among its portfolio.

Everton won’t be added to that portfolio, that is almost certain. Even if they managed to find the capital required to meet the Premier League’s four conditions set out last month, it is hard to imagine a scenario where an ownership group in such a state would be allowed to take control of a football club in English football’s top tier.

The fact that there hasn’t been a more public moving on from 777 Partners is down to the fact that, technically, the deal is still alive, and its failure will have to rest on 777’s inability to raise the capital required, or rejection from the Premier League.

Speaking to Parliament on Tuesday, Premier League CEO Richard Masters was quizzed on the current state of play with 777’s bid to acquire Everton.

He said: “The Premier League’s role in this, as regulator, is to perform the test. It is not to decide who the current owner wants to sell his club to. That is his decision. At the moment, he wants to continue to have discussions with 777 about it.

“The Premier League has made very clear the conditions that have to be met by 777 if it wishes to become the owner of Everton.

“At the moment, because the takeover hasn’t been confirmed, I will leave it to the committee to make its own conclusions as to where we are with that.”

With 777 Partners’ biggest source of financing, A-CAP, having been instructed by US regulators in two states to reduce exposure to 777, and with A-CAP chief Kenneth King having recently revealed on a webinar that the firm would be divesting from 777 investments, the lines of credit for 777 are now in short supply, and raising the money to repay the MSP loan of £158m, one of the Premier League conditions, to which 777 were granted a short-term extension last month, seems highly unlikely. In any event, MSP still holds the cards in that respect.

Sources that the ECHO has spoken to have spoken of a refusal to accept the reality of the situation by Wander, who is understood to remain bullish in 777’s chances of acquiring the Toffees, even though all the evidence would point to a different outcome.

777 Partners representatives declined to comment when contacted. Attempts were also made to reach Moshiri and his representatives, without success.