The Miami-based company agreed a deal with Everton's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri last week and they are moving quickly to get the deal done
Wednesday 20 September 2023 23:02, UK
The regulatory process to allow 777 Partners to take over ownership of Everton is well under way, Sky Sports News understands.
The Miami-based company agreed a deal with Everton's majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri last week and they are moving quickly to get the deal done.
Co-founder Josh Wander was on Merseyside on Tuesday to meet manager Sean Dyche and director of football Kevin Thelwell with the discussions being described as 'extremely positive'.
Reports suggesting MSP Sports Capital, who agreed a loan agreement to provide funding for the club's new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, could block the takeover by calling in its loan are untrue as there is no such provision for that.
Rights and Media funding, the other major club lenders, have given full consent for the 777 deal to proceed.
While it is no secret that Everton has financial issues and investment is crucial for the club to move forward, 777 Partners have already provided interim financial support ahead of closing the deal to buy the club from Moshiri, which will be used, in part, for Working Capital.
However, the feeling within 777 is that it's multi-club model - they have interests in several clubs including Hertha Berlin, Standard Liege and Genoa - will see a restructuring of Everton to achieve a stable financial club - something fans have called for, for some time.
Sky Sports News reporter Alan Myers said: "I think what 777 will bring is a serious business sense to the club.
"The club needs a serious business strategy, not fan or sentiment ownership, as nice as that is. The days of the 'people's club' has gone in football now."
Everton proposed takeover has regulatory hurdles to clear before it can be completed.
It is subject to approval by the Premier League, the FA and the Financial Conduct Authority. 777 co-founder Wander said in an interview with the Financial Times two weeks ago:
"We have a strong view that there's a new wave of commercialisation coming to football.
"The vision of this football group is that one day we're not selling hot dogs and beers to our customers; [it's] that we're selling insurance or financial services."
He said fans' engagement with their clubs meant "they want to be monetised".
In the interview, he's also asked about a 2003 cocaine trafficking arrest that led to him being put on probation. He said it was "a stupid college thing".
Sky Sports News reporter Alan Myers:
Farhad Moshiri's decision to opt to sell his whole shareholding in Everton, which he has held since 2018, may have come as a bit of a surprise to some but the Monaco-based businessman has clearly concluded that it is in the best interests of the club and its future.
However, that was not his original intention, as he had at first searched for investment in the Premier League club.
As the failed deal with MSP Sports Capital suggested, initially the model was to bring in that investment whilst retaining a good part of the club.
The agreement with 777 Partners, a Miami-based investment broker, will see Moshiri cut his ties with the club after seven tumultuous years that at first offered a long-suffering fanbase hope of a new dawn, similar to that witnessed at Manchester City and more recently at Newcastle United.
What followed was anything but - despite Moshiri ploughing in several hundred million pounds.
It is way too early to assess 777 Partners and their suitability. They must lay out their plans and they must be heard before they are judged with any degree of fairness and ultimate analysis.
They will need to show their hand both financially and morally. They will also be judged on the early decisions they make regarding the existing board, including chairman Kenwright and what involvement or not he will have going forward.
What is important is how they intend to run the club, what culture they want to adopt, and how they communicate that to a passionate fanbase. That has been lacking at the club for quite some time and is something the fans have been increasingly demanding in recent years.
