IN THE MONEY: Can Everton really find their way out of a £400m hole? Sale of the Toffees to Miami-based investors 777 Partners could be at risk of collapse

• Everton’s sale to Miami-based 777 Capital Partners is at risk of collapsing
• Major lenders at the club are not in favour of the deal, and could call in loans 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’

Everton’s sale to Miami-based investment firm 777 Capital Partners is at risk of collapsing after it emerged that major lenders at the club are not in favour of the deal – and could call in loans worth £350million.

Mail Sport has learnt that loans from MSP Sports Capital and mysterious media company Image & Media Rights contain ‘change of control clauses’.

These allow the lenders to call in the loans if they don’t approve of the new owners.

Sources close to MSP have indicated they do not approve of 777 Capital Partners and would consider calling in their loans.

There are very real doubts that 777 Capital Partners could afford to pay off both loans in addition to taking on the club’s debts and stadium construction.

Everton’s sale to Miami-based investment firm 777 Capital Partners is at risk of collapsing (co-founder Josh Wander pictured)

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is reportedly desperate to stem his financial losses at the club

It has emerged that Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is so desperate to stem his financial losses at the club that he has agreed a deal that will see him receive virtually no money up front, according to well-placed sources.

Sources close to the club believed Moshiri wanted £500million for his 94.1 per cent share.

Instead, he has agreed a deal with 777 Capital Partners that will see him receive a far lower amount through performance-related conditions, including Premier League survival this season.

A source close to the US-based investors told this paper that they had negotiated a series of clauses rather than heavy up front payments.

The source also revealed serious doubts whether 777 Capital Partners can afford to buy the club off Moshiri, pay off the club’s debts and finish the construction of the club’s Bramley-Moore stadium.

He told Mail Sport: ‘They don’t have access to £500m.

‘They tend to acquire clubs cheap and insert performance-related clauses to the sellers rather than paying hard cash up front.’ 

Moshiri’s finances have slipped into meltdown. He faces stadium interest repayments of £30m a year after the club extended their stadium loans to cover the construction costs.

The Toffees secured loans worth over £100m from MSP Sports Capital over the summer to help fund the Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, plus further debts of £280,892,048, with the lion’s share due to Image & Media Rights.

Financial sources close to the stadium believe the new loans have saddled Everton with record-breaking interest payments worth approximately £30m a year.

That works out at interest repayments of around £575,000 a week for Moshiri. Football finance sources believe the interest on the MSP Sports Capital loan alone could cost £10m a year.

Everton repaid £20.7m a year interest payments in 2021-22 as a result of the stadium loans. Latest financial results showed Everton made a £24.5m operating loss in 2022 – their fifth in a row.

Spokespeople for 777 Capital Partners told Mail Sport they were ‘confident the funds are in place so that the deal will go through and debts are worked out.’

They aim to appoint two board members and want the club to be self-sustaining.

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777’s offer does not include chairman Bill Kenwright’s (R) shares, amid an unclear future

The latest financial results showed Everton made a £24.5million operating loss in 2022

Their offer does not include chairman Bill Kenwright’s shares and his future remains unclear.

777 wouldn’t confirm where their funding was ultimately coming from or whether Everton’s debts would be repaid in full or serviced – nor could they offer any guarantees over the future ownership of the club’s new stadium.

Worried sources pointed out that 777 Capital Partners were this week pleading with supporters at Genoa – one of its other clubs – to fund a new £5m training ground through a bond scheme.

Their £40m acquisition of Standard Liege was also made in staged payments, while payments to acquire Hertha Berlin for £15m, plus debts written off, were late.

A statement by 777 Capital Partners stated they expected the sale of Everton to be completed before the end of the year.

It said: ‘Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2023 and remains subject to regulatory approval, including from the Premier League, the Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority.’

However the Premier League told Mail Sport they could not give any guarantees on a timeframe for the deal.

Strengthened Premier League rules give them the right to block deals if owners are under investigation for certain offences, including fraud. It is understood that 777 Capital Partners are subject to active proceedings alleging such offences — which are denied by the company and remain unproven.

A spokesperson for 777 said that the allegations formed part of a corporate claim against some of the 60 companies that co-founders Josh Wander and Steve Pasco own and that they were not personally indicted.

Wander has strongly denied any involvement in loan contracts that have led to the court cases and has expressed sympathy with the alleged victims.

The Premier League will also investigate the source of their funds.

Everton are in the midst of building a £500m new stadium – and could face the possibility of increased costs

Premier League rules are much more rigorous than those in other leagues around the world — so despite 777 Capital Partners passing ownership tests in other countries there is no guarantee the Everton deal will be given the green light.

Mystery also continues to surround Image & Media Rights.

Sources close to the company were this week unwilling to share the identity of the ultimate source of their funds.

West Ham and Nottingham Forest have also borrowed millions from the lender, which is not registered with regulator Financial Conduct Authority and does not have any employees, a website or phone number.

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