The Friedkin Group have completed their takeover of Everton by buying former owner Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent shareholding and have promised to bring financial stability to the Merseyside club and strengthen their squad as they bid to revive their fortunes.
The Texan billionaire Dan Friedkin is set to become Everton’s new chairman after taking a 99.5 stake per cent in the club through Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of TFG. The deal was given the approval of the Premier League, the FA, the Women’s Professional Football Leagues and the Financial Conduct Authority.
And TFG, who also own Roma, are set to reduce Everton’s debt to around £300m, paid at lower interest rates with blue-chip lenders, after converting some debt to shares. By reducing the debt and turning some of it into equity, Everton and TFG took proactive steps because of the Premier League’s new shareholder loan regulations, which can affect PSR calculations. After failing PSR in the last two years, Everton are confident they will pass it this year and will not face a third points deduction. They will have more leeway to spend within PSR next season than in January.
Manager Sean Dyche and director of football Kevin Thelwell are both out of contract in the summer and TFG are planning to work with both in the short term, though neither has been given a new deal yet.
However, Friedkin has acted by appointing Marc Watts, a long-term ally of his and former president of TFG, as executive chairman of the club and adding TFG’s chief financial officer Ana Dunkel to the Everton board, along with interim chief executive Colin Chong. Further board appointments are likely to come in 2025, including a permanent CEO, but TFG are impressed by many of the senior figures at Goodison Park.
And Watts said: “Today marks a momentous and proud occasion for The Friedkin Group as we become custodians of this iconic football club. We are committed to leading Everton into an exciting new era both on and off the pitch. Providing immediate financial stability to the club has been a key priority, and we are delighted to have achieved this. While restoring Everton to its rightful place in the Premier League table will take time, today is the first step in that journey.”
Moshiri, who bought Everton through his company Blue Heaven Holdings, lost hundreds of millions of pounds during his eight-year ownership, receiving about £40m of the £450m he was owed in shareholder loans and writing off the rest. But he oversaw the construction of their £760m new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which Everton will move into next season, and he believes the club will have a better future.
Moshiri stated: “I truly believe that the transaction with The Friedkin Group is the best outcome for the club and its future success. Despite a challenging geopolitical backdrop, a significant amount has been achieved over the last couple of years including the delivery of a new sporting department, the stabilisation of our finances and the delivery of our iconic new stadium. I now hand over to new owners confident in the outlook for the club and that our incredible fans will see the success on the pitch that they so thoroughly deserve.”
Moshiri stopped funding the club following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and when Alisher Usmanov, his long-term associate and a sponsor of Everton, was sanctioned. As he looked for a buyer and borrowed to fund the stadium, Everton’s debts swelled to around £660m.
When Moshiri tried to sell Everton to 777 Partners, they borrowed around £200m from the Miami-based investment fund, which then collapsed. A-Cap, the insurance firm that underwrote 777’s spending spree, are facing legal cases in the United States and TFG’s concerns the issue was unresolvable led to them withdrawing their bid during a period of exclusivity in the summer. However, they are now confident that debt has been restructured with no further repercussions for Everton. TFG injected around £200m in working capital in the summer and more now to finish off the stadium.
Watts said in an open letter to fans: “We have provided an injection of capital to ensure the completion of the new stadium. The transaction has seen most of Everton’s debt either converted to equity, repaid or refinanced on terms more favourable to the stability of the club. Whilst there is much work to be done, and PSR remains a limiting factor in the short term, the underlying financial position is now much stronger.”
TFG said their goals included keeping Everton, founder members of the Football League in 1888, at the heart of the community and bringing “strategic investment” to the squad after financial issues meant they have made a transfer-market profit over the last five years.
Everton suffered two points deductions last season for failing Financial Fair Play and TFG’s immediate priority will be to stabilise the club and improve results. Everton are 15th in the Premier League after only winning three of their first 15 matches this season. Representatives of TFG are due at Sunday’s home match against Chelsea, led by Watts.
