New Delhi: Everton’s takeover by The Friedkin Group (TFG) has been completed, putting an end to the club’s long for new owners. The US-based company agreed to purchase the 94.1% stake of the outgoing shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, in September and bought a further 98.8% shares for the stake. They have now received regulatory approval from the Premier League, Football Association, Women’s Professional Leagues Limited and Financial Conduct Authority for the move.
TFG, which is owned by the Texas-based billionaire Dan Friedkin, already owns AS Roma and is taking over the English club, which makes it the 11th club to be owned or partly owned by an American investor. The deal will take Roundhouse Capital Holding Limited, part of TFG group, to officially own the club, with Marc Watts taking over as the executive chairman.
🚨 Everton confirm The Friedkin Group (TFG) as their new owner. While Dan Friedkin won’t attend the Chelsea game, a senior TFG delegation will be present.✨✨🔥 pic.twitter.com/ka1P4NAKfe
— Softfootball (@thesoftfootball) December 19, 2024
Watts, in his statement, noted that the Friedkin Group were happy to take over as the “custodian of this iconic football club”. Further, the statement noted that they would hope to take Everton into a great team both on and off the field. Watts further identified that it would give the club financial security and was happy to have achieved this.
Anglo-Iranian businessman Moshiri has been associated with the club since 2016 but has been known for having taken a huge financial hit. Though the cost of the deal isn’t known, TFG have been rumoured to have paid a sum around £500m. Moshiri has reportedly invested around £450m in the club but will walk away with a very small undisclosed amount.
Will Everton’s financial stability return?
Previously, TFG had loaned Everton £200m for the club to pay off their £158m debt to MSP Sports Capital, and they businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing in order to finalise the funding for the club’s new stadium in Bramley Moor dock. Since then, TFG have pushed more money into the club for the day-to-day running costs. Along with that, cost and other short-term debt are said to have been converted into equity.
It is said that Dan Friedkin will be the chairman of the board, with Watts serving out his responsibility for the management of the club. Ana Dunkel, TFG’s chief financial officer, and Colin Chong, the interim manager of the club, will also be on the board in some role. The club have said that some more appointments will be announced in the coming weeks.
Friedkin, too, welcomed Everton and noted that the new era will be full of “ambition and professionalism”. He concluded that the history of Everton’s resilience works well as the foundation on which TFG can build.
In their takeover agreement, TFG will reduce the debt burden significantly for the cub, which was previously in a financial crunch. They have committed to repaying £200m owed to American insurance firm ACAP through a series of instalments. Further, they will be repaying £225m loaned by Rights and Media Funding. It is understood that there is an interest rate of 10.25%, and TFG have negotiated a repayment of £200m loan from 777 Partners, who were at one point being preferred by Moshiri for the takeover.
777 Partners and their financial backer, A-Cap are currently facing a lawsuit for fraudulency and it is understood that TFG will likely only pay £60m though this is unconfirmed. The 777 loan had previously made TFG pull out of the deal with Everton in July 2024. However, the company were back in talks with Moshiri after Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor showed interest.
Moshiri’s loans to the club through Bluesky Capital also needed to be converted into equity before January 11th, 2025, in order to not breach APT (Associated Party Transactions) rules. A dispute over profitability and sustainability rules has also been settled between the Premier League and the club.
Moshiri’s term as owner of the club saw him terminate coaches including Ronald Koeman, Roberto Martinez, Sam Allardyce, Rafael Benitez, Marco Silva and Frank Lampard. Carlo Ancelotti had been part of the club, too, but had decided to step away on his own terms.
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