End of Moshiri - Friedkin, APPROVAL AGREED

[Evertonian in NC]

I have no idea what to hope for, which is kind of good since I can't thusly get my hopes up. Or dashed.

Plus, you know. My hopes don't really matter. Sometimes a fantastic afternoon nap makes one kind of morosely philosophical.

[Robioto]

Full Athletic article:

EVERTON TAKEOVER: GROUP LED BY LONDON-BASED BUSINESSMAN MAKES £400M BID FOR CLUB

A group of international investors led by London-based businessman Vatche Manoukian has joined the increasingly crowded field of potential new owners at Everton by making a £400million all-equity bid for the Premier League club.

The nephew of an Armenian entertainment and property tycoon, Manoukian is a partner in global technology investment firm IMS Digital Ventures and his bid group includes investors from the Gulf and United States.

Their interest means current owner Farhad Moshiri has three firm bids already on the table, with at least two other interested parties keen to make a move if the price and timing is right. Everton declined to comment on the latest bid when approached by The Athletic.

The frontrunners, certainly in terms of fan sentiment, are British businessmen and lifelong Everton fans Andy Bell and George Downing.

They are already part of a group led by US investment firm MSP Sports Capital that lent Everton £158million last year, so they have the added incentive of trying to protect their existing investment in the club.

New groups enter Everton bidding with announcement expected who Moshiri favours

Their bid, which was lodged last week, is a mix of fresh equity and a £350million loan secured on the club’s new stadium that would refinance Everton’s existing debts.

That loan would be provided by the merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners, which was originally set up to invest American IT billionaire Michael Dell’s wealth.

Contrary to some reports, Dell himself has no desire in buying Everton, or any other English football club, as it would be a clear conflict of interest with his investment firm’s lucrative lending business. MSD has lent money to Burnley, Derby, Southampton, Swansea, West Bromwich Albion and West Ham.

Confusingly, the third bid is from Bell and Downing’s partners, MSP Sports Capital, as the New York-based fund has put together a new group with a view to taking full control of the club. This bid is believed to be a complex mix of equity and debt.

However, alongside this trio, there are also the likes of John Textor and Dan Friedkin, two American businessmen who have already built multi-club groups.

Textor, as The Athletic first reported, can only make a move for Everton if he can find a buyer for his 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace, which he has been trying to sell for several months. As well as his Palace shares, he also owns Belgian team RWD Molenbeek, Brazil’s Botafogo and French side Lyon.

Friedkin, the owner of Italy’s AS Roma and French side AS Cannes, has held preliminary talks with Moshiri but has not made a bid for the club.

The gun was fired in this race two weeks ago when the period of exclusivity Moshiri agreed with Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners expired.

That brought an end to a bizarre nine-month saga during which 777 lent Everton almost £200million to meet the club’s running costs and continue the construction of the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. But 777 was unable to meet the Premier League’s conditions for approving the takeover, most notably the settlement of MSP’s £158million loan.

Those 777 loans took Everton’s total debt to almost £1billion, although £450millon of that total is made up of unsecured shareholder loans from Moshiri, which will almost certainly have to be completely, or very nearly completely, wiped out for any new owner to step into his shoes at the club.

For its part, 777 is now fighting bankruptcy, with its main backer, US insurance group A-Cap, calling the shots.

There have been some reports that A-Cap was willing to pick up the baton in 777’s pursuit of Everton and attempt to take control of the club itself but that is not the case, as A-Cap has its own financial concerns to focus on and must distance itself from 777.

What is true, however, is that A-Cap has a clear interest in Everton’s debt to 777 and is therefore a key part of the conversation about the club’s future. The most likely outcome is that A-Cap will extend the length of the loan and defer any interest payments.

In terms of who A-Cap will be making that deal with, the various interested parties in Everton believe Moshiri will enter into exclusive negotiations with one of them in the coming days.

[Paddockoldie]

Who knows what's going on, but my preference would have to be the lifelong Everton fans bid. Purely because they'd have the interest of the club in their head. This logic is also why I'll never be rich

[777Kidnappings]

Who knows what's going on, but my preference would have to be the lifelong Everton fans bid. Purely because they'd have the interest of the club in their head. This logic is also why I'll never be rich

Surely a bid that doesn't involved another 350m worth of debt would be better. We've gone down the sentimental route with disastrous results

[Free Agent]

So to summarize:
Bell & Downing have capital in place - mostly through funds (debt/loans) from Dell’s family office. They should have an easier ride because they know MSP as they were in a consortium earlier. MSP, if I recall, as a senior debt holder, have 1st right of refusal on any bids. Bell & Downing would still have to negotiate debt repayment terms with R&M (that dodgy loan made by Bill Kenwright years ago thats paying 10%+ interest) and A-Cap (who funded the loans from 777) also.

This Vache Manoukian fella has lodged a bid for 400m, but it’s all equity, which means he’s really only buying Mosh’s stake. He’d still need to convince MSP that his is the best deal for them (ie. He needs to renegotiate terms of repayment with them). And similar to Bell & Downing, would have to agree terms with A-Cap & R&M also.

MSP is still in the mix, in a different consortium of investors this time. They obviously hold the cards (due to the senior debt they have) but I can only assume that they haven’t been granted any sort of exclusivity due to their bid being too low for Mosh to consider.

A-Cap: haven’t lodged a bid. Similar to Dell’s family office, they are just there to make loans to investors. The fact that they have extended multiple loans to 777 gives me bad vibes. At best, it was a calculated risk with very high returns. At worst, they are just chancers who never really did any real due diligence.

[Cereal Killer]

Surely a bid that doesn't involved another 350m worth of debt would be better. We've gone down the sentimental route with disastrous results

I’m sure whoever it is and whatever the deal is, the Esk will delight in telling everyone that’ll listen that it’s an awful deal that plunges us deeper into the black hole of financial oblivion

[Evertonfc15]

Who knows what's going on, but my preference would have to be the lifelong Everton fans bid. Purely because they'd have the interest of the club in their head. This logic is also why I'll never be rich

bob on............u just feel its got to be right with bell & downing
ps
the bell and downing stadium

[Toffee1]

[superpull]

Surely a bid that doesn't involved another 350m worth of debt would be better. We've gone down the sentimental route with disastrous results

It's not "another" £350m. It's basically a debt consolidation loan to pay off current debts into a single, cheaper repayment plan (albeit leveraged against the new stadium)

[brap2]

I couldn't begin to have an opinion on which deal is the best, I've truly got no idea what to hope for.

The bell and downing one *feels* to me to be tinpot, they've no money and they never will, but how essential is it to have money in today's game?

My preference would be a super slick American sports ownership, lots of experience in sports, data science, retail.

I don't know the first thing about any of the parties involved, so truly do not know what to hope for.

[AjaxAndy]

I couldn't begin to have an opinion on which deal is the best, I've truly got no idea what to hope for.

The bell and downing one *feels* to me to be tinpot, they've no money and they never will, but how essential is it to have money in today's game?

My preference would be a super slick American sports ownership, lots of experience in sports, data science, retail.

I don't know the first thing about any of the parties involved, so truly do not know what to hope for.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there really, it doesn't matter how much money someone has because PSR prevents us from spending vast fortunes, so really we just need the most competent people who can not only run a business but understand how to use data and science to buy and sell players for profit whilst improving on field performance.

I don't think Moshiri will really consider this though, he'll take whichever bid is best for him regardless of if it's best for the club.

[Bluedylan1]

Good thing is we don't have any input or control into what happens and we'll never get to see all scenarios played out to know which would've been best, so we're just along for the ride as ever.

[Bluebridge]

I understand none of this, so what will be will be. Would be nice if it’s the two Evertonians for obvious reasons, but we need someone who knows how to run a business/football club.

[Fynci]

Post on Reddit that’s well worth your time: https://www.reddit.com/r/Everton/s/U7SMSZs7i8

[MayorFarnham]

We need to acknowledge we are at the "believe everything they promise us" stage.
Who knows which one is best.