The consortium in discussions to buy Everton have deep enough resources to complete the purchase without the need for a leveraged buy-out but will not be engaging in the kind of wasteful spending seen under current owner Farhad Moshiri.
A group spearheaded by former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and bankrolled by United States real estate tycoon Maciek Kaminski and billionaire mining and investment magnate John Thornton are engaged in exclusive negotiations to purchase the Toffees.
It is understood they hope to have the takeover completed by the time the club play a pre-season friendly against Minnesota United in Kaminski’s home city of Minneapolis on 21 July.
However, unlike Moshiri who has spent more than half a billion pounds on players in six years, the prospective new owners will not be “throwing money around like confetti”, according to a source.
While the buy-out will be 100 percent equity the reported £500million purchase price – which does not include the cost of finishing the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock for a similar figure – will acquire the club’s current debt but “wouldn’t touch the sides” of the combined wealth of the interested parties.
The consortium, through the shell company KAM Sports LLC, established in February to own and manage premier international sports assets, intend to take a balanced approach with “sensible” investments – which include the Finch Farm training ground and youth team – to bring success to a club which only avoided relegation in the penultimate match of last season.
Everton’s current financial restrictions, they have posted cumulative losses of more than £370m over the last three financial years, mean there cannot be a splurge on transfers and wages which has contributed to their current plight, although club officials argue the implications of Covid have been particularly damaging.
But with Kenyon set to be installed as executive chairman, meaning an end to the long reign of Bill Kenright who has become a divisive figure for disgruntled fans, the prospective new owners believe they can usher in a more professional and efficient way of running the club.
Fan reaction to how the board has managed things has not gone unnoticed by leading figures in the consortium, who are committed to significantly better supporter engagement.
It is also understood Kaminski, with his experience in real estate, views the area around Bramley-Moore Dock as having huge redevelopment potential, even if the stadium build and Goodison Park regeneration are set in stone.
