Everton FC majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is close to a £400m sale of the club, according to media reports on Thursday evening. Tony McDonough reports
Farhad Moshiri is close to selling Everton FC for around £400m to a US investor, the FT was reporting on Thursday evening.
According to the newspaper, talks between Mr Moshiri and Maciek Kaminski, a Minnesota businessman “have progressed in recent days”. However, it added that a deal was not certain and was “complicated” by the financial turmoil in the UK.
Any deal would require the approval of the Premier League. And, quoting sources “with direct knowledge of the matter”, the FT said the final selling price would also depend on financing for the £500m stadium currently under construction at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Mr Moshiri acquired a 49.9% stake in Everton in 2016 and now owns 94%. He has since ploughed hundreds of millions of pounds into the club, much of which was spent on buying players with mixed results. He is also believed to have spent £100m on funding the initial stages of the new stadium.
In late March Everton released its latest financial results for the year to June 30, 2021. It did show record revenues of £193.1m, but a loss of £120.9m. Everton said £103m of that loss can be attributed to the pandemic and, when the 2021/22 accounts are published next year the club expects COVID losses to total at least £170m.
If Mr Kaminski is successful in his bid it would mean half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs would have either US owners or shareholders. In the summer a US investor group led by Todd Boehly acquired Chelsea for £2.5bn.
The FT reports that Mr Kaminski is a former manager of funds directed at investments in Poland. It says he built his wealth by buying office buildings in Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota.
Earlier this month LBN reported Everton had hired sports and entertainment consultancy Elevate Sports Ventures to conduct a global search for a naming rights partner for its new stadium.
Everton had originally signed a £30m deal with USM giving it first option on the naming rights. However, USM is owned by billionaire oligarch Alisher Usmanov. Mr Usmanov was hit by sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Consequently, Everton cut ties with USM.
Elevate is working with the club on what is described as “a bold revenue generation programme”. This includes developing a range of new partnership opportunities and a global search for a naming rights partner.