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777 Partners’ deal to buy Everton football club has collapsed just weeks after the Miami investment firm denied accusations of fraud and called in restructuring experts to help with what it called “operational challenges”.
Everton said on Saturday that the sale and purchase agreement for 777 to buy the club from British-Iranian owner Farhad Moshiri had “expired”.
The club said it would “continue to operate as usual” as it works with the majority shareholder “to assess all options for the club’s future ownership”.
The collapse of the 777 deal comes after months of scrutiny as the group’s reinsurance business unravelled.
It leaves Moshiri to complete the final stages of construction of a new stadium that the club hopes will bring in much-needed revenues after its debts mounted.
The club has repeatedly posted losses after being hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the unwinding of sponsorship deals with companies linked to Uzbekistan-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Its spending on players has contributed to its financial position.
777 agreed to buy the Liverpool-based club last September and had expected to complete the takeover by the end of that year. But it failed to win approval from the Premier League, which required 777 to clear the club’s debts associated with the new waterfront stadium, among other conditions.
The Miami firm lent more than $200mn to Everton to assist with working capital.
On Saturday Everton said its board of directors, which includes Moshiri, “recognises the considerable level of financial support 777 Partners has provided the club over recent months and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for this”.
Everton was supposed to be the jewel in the crown of 777’s multi-club ownership strategy, following a series of deals involving clubs in Italy, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Australia.
777 co-founder Josh Wander had predicted a new era of “hyper commercialisation” for football clubs but the Everton deal attracted scrutiny over the firm’s business model.
777 recently appointed B Riley Advisory Services to assist with “various operational challenges” and denies any wrongdoing.
US technology businessman John Textor has expressed an interest in buying Everton, although he would have to sell his roughly 40 per cent stake in Crystal Palace in order to comply with league rules.
He has appointed bankers to find a buyer for his shares in the south London-based team.