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Everton’s administration fears with 777 takeover placed in doubt
Clock ticking down to deadline when Everton need to pay £160 million loan repayment
Ben Rumsby
15 April 2024 • 3:12pm
The takeover of Everton by 777 Partners is on knife-edge ahead of a deadline for a £160 million loan repayment that has sparked fears the club could be plunged into administration.
With what Telegraph Sport has been told is a cut-off of midnight on Monday US time (Tuesday, 5am BST) looming, a deal had still not been struck over money owed by the club to MSP Capital and businessmen Andy Bell – founder of the investment platform AJ Bell – and George Downing.
It emerged last week that US investment firm 777 was seeking an extension to that deadline, talks over which sources subsequently admitted were likely to “go down to the wire”.
Those talks were said to be being led by current Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, who was on Monday facing losing control of the club – and the current sale process – unless an agreement was reached, with the loan said to be secured against 51 per cent of his stake.
There have been reports those owed money were also eyeing a share of Everton’s new £500 million stadium in lieu of repayment.
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All this put at risk the takeover by 777, which is also now owed more than £160 million in loans paid to prop up the club after it agreed to buy out Moshiri for £500 million.
Club may face further points deduction if loan left unpaid
Pulling the plug on funding that will see Everton through to the end of the month would need someone else to step up to avert the threat of administration and a nine-point deduction that could see them relegated after they were docked eight points for breaking financial rules.
There are conflicting views over the prospect of insolvency, with one source telling Telegraph Sport Moshiri is committed to preventing the doomsday scenario, either by resuming bankrolling the club himself or finding another buyer.
Another source, however, described administration as a “very real possibility”, adding: “There are three or four main scenarios. The first one is the extension is granted but it’s granted with a price attached to it. That could be an additional payment to MSP. It could be equity. It could be more favourable loan terms.
“If it isn’t granted then MSP takes the equity and either tries to line up somebody else as a buyer.
“The third scenario is probably the administration scenario.”
Everton were already facing a wait until the season ends before any takeover by 777, which is scrambling to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the purchase.
The latest lengthy delay over a takeover agreement stuck with Moshiri almost seven months ago followed the issuing of an ultimatum by the Premier League, which imposed strict conditions on the proposed purchase by a firm that has faced accusations related to its ability to raise cash and its business practices, which it has repeatedly denied.
Those conditions include that it repays the £160 million loan owed by Everton, deposits £60 million into an escrow account for use by the club, converts loans it has itself made into equity, and proves it has access to sufficient funding to complete the construction of a new stadium.
The investment fund co-founded by Josh Wander and Steve Pasko is said to have approached a significant number of lenders to help bankroll the purchase, including Blue Owl Capital, a US-based private credit provider.
Meanwhile, Everton have formally lodged an appeal against the two-point penalty imposed on the club earlier this month for breaching Premier League financial rules.
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The club admitted breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for permitted losses by £16.6 million for the assessment period ending with the 2022-23 season. The independent commission which imposed the sanction disclosed in the written reasons for its decision that the Premier League had initially sought a five-point penalty.
This was reduced to two by the commission, after mitigation was taken into account, notably the fact that the club were being punished twice in the same overlapping period. In February, Everton had a 10-point penalty for an earlier PSR breach reduced to six on appeal.
Everton will now be aiming to achieve a further reduction to the two-point penalty via the latest appeal, with a hearing arranged for May 24 at the latest. The Premier League season ends on May 18th, raising the possibility of relegation being decided by an independent commission should Everton finish in the bottom three by one or two points, only to be given those points back.
