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US billionaire emerges as new favourite in race to own Everton
Roma owner Daniel Friedkin has emerged as the new frontrunner in the bid to own Everton.
The US businessman is reported to be close to signing a deal with Farhad Moshiri after a complex bidding process sparked by a flurry of interest in the club.
His Friedkin Group is now thought to be on the brink of agreeing exclusivity terms with the Blues’ majority shareholder, ending a week of speculation over the club’s fate.
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Friedkin is now thought to be leading the pack of competing bids, with different consortiums having fought for Moshiri’s approval since the collapse of the deal that would have seen 777 Partners take control of the club.
The failure of that bid - the third exclusivity deal to collapse across Moshiri's two year search for an exit from Everton - to meet a share purchase agreement deadline on May 31 paved the way for Moshiri to listen to new offers.
Serious interest followed, leading to several high-profile bids. Last week, wealthy Everton supporters and successful businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing submitted an offer that was set to be backed by the merchant bank that controls the wealth of tech billionaire Michael Dell.
A consortium led by London-based businessman Vatche Manoukian put in a £400m all-equity offer while Vici Private Finance, which was spearheading a bid said to be backed by two billionaires and with the funding ‘ready to go’, was also on the table.
MSP Sports Capital, the provider of a £158m loan to the club, A-CAP - a backer of 777 Partners, which has provided nearly £200m of support to Everton since September, and US businessman John Textor, who owns a 45% stake in Crystal Palace, were also part of a complex web of interest.
Uncertainty over the timeframe Moshiri was operating to and his intentions led to concern from some bids as they waited for updates during a week in which the 69-year-old weighed up the rival offers. But by Friday evening it appeared that Friedkin, the 59-year-old billionaire and CEO of The Friedkin Group, was in pole position and on the verge of becoming the fourth party to enter into an exclusivity agreement with Moshiri.
