Everton issue response to claims lucrative 777 Partners takeover is under threat
Everton have made clear there are “no deadlines” on the timeframe of the deal, which will see current owner Farhad Moshiri sell his majority stake in the Premier League outfit
Everton have categorically rejected claims that a proposed takeover of the club by American investment firm 777 Partners is under threat.
And in an unusual step, the club has made clear there are “no deadlines” on the timeframe of the deal, which will see current owner Farhad Moshiri sell his majority stake in the Premier League outfit.
Sources close to the Everton owner and the club hierarchy, say they are satisfied the deal remains on track, and suggested they “categorically deny the takeover is stalling”.
Those claims were made by a United States newspaper, who have been involved in a long-running investigation into Miami-based 777 Partners, and alleged the deal has stalled because of a failure to provide relevant documentation to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Under new Premier League rules, any prospective new owner must first satisfy their ‘fit and proper persons test’, which includes providing full financial audits to the FCA, who will scrutinise the finances behind any deal.
It is understood the financial body, as part of the preliminaries for the deal, had requested 777’s audited financial accounts for the most recent tax year, but had not yet received full details to satisfy their audit.
But a spokesperson for 777 responded by claiming: “We have submitted all relevant documentation to the FCA in line with their requests, and indicative timings.
“As we have previously stated, the regulatory processes in relation to the proposed acquisition of Everton FC need to be allowed the proper time and space to run their course in private, and so we will not be commenting further.”Put simply, the FCA wants extensive financial documentation in order to be able to examine the deal, which 777 have not yet fully provided. But there are no deadlines for the delivery of the information.
