Premier League have failed Everton again after 777 takeover decision made back in March

There is now only one outcome for 777 Partners' takeover of Everton Football Club.

As a deal, it’s fair to say that this had plenty of red flags from the start, and it’s important to acknowledge the fine work of the likes of Josimar in shining such a spotlight on them over the course of several months.

There is seldom any smoke without fire, but that fire has now appeared to have turned into a raging inferno, one where 777 Partners face several legal suits in the US, including a civil case over allegations of fraud. One where they have seen an airline they own fall into voluntary administration. One where they have seen their biggest source of funding move to create distance between them due to recommendations from US state regulators. One where they have had to call in restructuring experts to help solve the current crisis. One where co-founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko have been removed from the board of directors and away from any decision-making.

READ MORE: Everton takeover: Richard Masters speaks out on why 777 deal still hasn't happened

READ MORE: Inside 777 chaos as Wander stance on doomed deal and new payments explained

But these words here aren’t really about 777 Partners. That is a situation that will play out in the cold light of day. They have next to no chance of acquiring Everton now, and that is the long and short of it.

Had things not unravelled in the timeframe that they did, had US state regulators in two states not asked Kenneth King’s A-CAP to reduce exposure to 777 Partners 'to protect retirees, widows, and orphans relying on annuities and other products from the insurers,’ then the situation right now could have been a whole lot different.

That news broke at the end of March. Had A-CAP, a major source of funding for 777 Partners for some time, been willing to continue to supply funding to the company by the time April 15 rolled around then Everton would likely have had new owners, owners who are now facing a very bleak outlook and serious legal issues.

A deal that was agreed back in September took until late March for the Premier League to write to 777 Partners to inform them that they were ‘minded to approve’ the group’s bid to take over the club.

There were four conditions to be met. Pretty strict ones.

Those conditions were that 777 loans to the club, of which are now sitting at over £200m, have to be converted into equity; funds are required in an escrow account to meet financial obligations for the remainder of the season; proof of funding for the new stadium completion; and a £158m loan to be repaid to MSP Sports Capital.

On multiple occasions, as recently as last week, sources told the ECHO that three of those conditions could be met. It was the April 15 deadline and the search for capital for the £158m loan repayment that was the hurdle that they could not overcome.

777 asked for more time, and they were granted a short extension by MSP, reluctantly. Given what has unfolded this past fortnight, with allegations by London-based firm Leadenhall Capital, via a civil suit filed in New York, that 777 Partners misled the company in order to borrow vast sums of money. It claims those loans were secured against assets valued at more than $350m - including assets that had either been used as collateral elsewhere, did not exist, or were not controlled by the group. Leadenhall claim they are owed $600m by 777 Partners.

But in early March there was another case filed in a New York court, brought by Obra Capital, who claimed that 777 had attempted to transfer two “cash rich” assets to avoid paying its debts after Obra loaned a total of $63m to the firm, of which $22.4m was outstanding. In that suit, 777 was described as a ‘crumbling house of cards’.

A week or so later and the Premier League decided they were ‘minded to approve’ the deal.

In recent weeks we have seen all the above unravel, even getting to the point where the former PR company that was advising them were cutting ties after not having their invoices paid.

But still, the charade continued. Through the fact that the claws were well and truly into Everton due to the working capital provided by the firm, for Moshiri to extricate himself from the mess made is a challenge, and one that may take some time to unpick.

On Tuesday, Premier League CEO Richard Masters, a man unlikely to win many popularity contests with the blue half of Merseyside, was asked directly about the current state of the 777 Partners takeover bid.

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.”

For an organisation that believes it can regulate itself and doesn’t need an independent body to tell it what to do, and one that they have already lobbied against despite saying they wouldn’t, the Premier League hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory.

Ignoring the points deductions saga, that’s another matter, surely the Premier League, which so often tells us that it is the biggest, most popular league in the world, would have been able to do enough digging, to spend enough time and resource to be forensic enough to determine that 777 Partners, regardless of whether or not they stumped up the cash for the four conditions, were not fit and proper owners of a football club in England, not least one with such rich traditions, facing a defining period in its history.

It is negligence on the part of the Premier League that, after six months, they came to the conclusion that they passed muster provided the dollars were green enough. It smacks of just being seen to do something to move the situation along at a time when they had already clobbered Everton around the head several times over with their pursuit of their version of PSR justice.

Football fans, not just Everton but across the country, should expect higher standards of the highest office. It was clear for some time that it would have been risky at best to allow someone so chequered to hold the keys to one of English football’s most storied football clubs. At worst, it was completely irresponsible.

Had April 15 arrived and 777 Partners found the cash then Everton would have been under ownership of the firm. A firm now facing significant legal action, one where companies in their portfolio are falling into administration and having assets seized, one where clubs in their portfolio are unable to pay their players at present, and one where they owe a lot of money to a lot of people.

Everton’s situation at present is salvageable with the right people coming in, and a renewed focus on stabilising and building, even if it is for the short term before a more long-term solution can be found. We shall see soon enough whether there are those willing to do that heavy lifting for the foreseeable future.

But the Premier League’s view on who should be able to own football clubs should matter, and part of their remit should be to have a view on who the club is sold to. Everton look to have dodged a bullet, but it isn’t with any thanks to the Premier League. Again.