From the 777 saga to Friedkin Group’s failure, Everton’s wait for new owners has been one full of twists and turns, but John Textor could finally be the man to break that trend of frustration after he confirmed a major hurdle is close to being cleared.
Everton takeover news
For almost the entirety of last season, 777 Partners looked destined to complete their takeover of Everton, only to eventually be denied Premier League approval. And as things turn out, the Premier League made the correct decision, given the financial troubles that 777’s portfolio of clubs have been hit with since the turn of the year.
It was then the turn of Friedkin Group to enter talks that ultimately ended in further failure. After opening discussions, the potential buyers quickly pulled out of any deal and ended talks, citing Everton’s debt to 777 as the reason for their hesitance.
In limbo ever since, Textor has become the latest prospective owner, but must first sell the 45% that he owns in fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace. Textor told Sky Sports that his exclusivity rights last until November 30 with Everton in the hope of getting a deal over the line.
Textor confirms bids for Palace and Everton deadline
Providing an update on both the sale of his percentage in Crystal Palace and takeover of Everton, Textor told Sky Sports: “I’m in an awkward spot but we’re working through it. The awkward spot is that I can understand the club’s position… the accounting position and I feel it’s manageable in terms of the PSR problem.
“I don’t quite know the Premier League’s perspective on that because there’s a bit of a Chinese Wall between me as an owner of Crystal Palace and what I’m really allowed to know as a prospective owner of another team in the same division.
“But I do think we’re developing solutions for that information gap and I feel we’re in the very last days of getting our comfort around that. We just hope from the moment we arrive, we can start looking up the table, not down it.”
Perhaps most importantly, he confirmed two bids for Palace: “We have 14 groups interested in Palace who are very qualified and we have five that went to the next level and now we have two who have made good bids, while there is also the possibility that our partners might still want it as they love the club as much as I do.
“We’re into the final week or two of knowing who the buyer will be. The contract I have with Farhad gives us a lot of time for that as November 30 is our deadline set to make sure we can complete it.”
As things stand, those at Goodison Park can take that as a positive update with more good news potentially on the horizon. They will know more than anyone just how quickly things can change in search of new owners, however.
