Ex-Everton manager anticipates 777 Partners to be a “stumbling block”
Keith Wyness, the former chief executive of Everton, believes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will not approve 777 Partners’ takeover of Goodison Park.
Following its September agreement to buy out Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% ownership stake in the team, the American investment fund is currently awaiting FCA, Premier League, and Football Association permission.
Without passing the recently beefed-up owners’ and directors’ test, 777 will not have permission to continue with their planned takeover and may then pull the plug.
Speaking on the Where’s The Money Gone? podcast with Adrian Goldberg [7 November, 17m 45s], Wyness said: “777, with the leverage they have and the other parts of their business, are probably not going to pass the Financial Conduct Authority tests.
“I don’t know the details, but I think that’s going to be the stumbling block. There are some reports of other groups already in the background. My gut feeling is that this is where this is going to go.”
Former Sunderland part-owner Charlie Methven suggested administration is a possible outcome should the FCA indeed block the proposed takeover.
“I think you’re right,” he said. “The question for Everton is whether this can happen quickly enough to stop the club going into administration? The running costs of the club are effectively being met by 777, who are making loans to Everton to pay the running costs of around £3m a month in losses, so about £35m a year.
“If it is the case that the FCA would not pass 777, you’d imagine they’d stop putting money into the club at that point and their loan would become one of the many owed by the football club. How quickly can someone else come in to pick up the baton and fund the club?”
Decision needed soon
That one single word – “administration” – fills every Everton supporter with dread. That really would be the worst-case scenario for the club.
The most worrying aspect is that it does have to be considered a possibility while Everton wait in limbo with regards to these various tests.
However, as Wyness went on to point out on the podcast, there should – should! – be enough interest from elsewhere to stop this from happening.
With a large fanbase, Premier League football – for now – and a state-of-the-art stadium about a year away from opening, this is a good club to invest in.
Ultimately, many owners like the thought of a challenge that can pay huge dividends in the long run, which is exactly a category Everton find themselves in.
All we can hope for is that, if 777 Partners has to back out of the takeover, then that decision is at least made soon so that another party can begin the same process
The longer this drags out, the more uncertain Everton’s future is.
