Farhad Moshiri met 777 Partners in London this week as the Miami-based firm’s legal jeopardy intensifies and further doubts have been cast over their ability to complete their proposed takeover of Everton.
According to Sky Sports News correspondent, Alan Myers, the Club’s majority shareholder held face-to-face talks with Josh Wander, with further discussions planned as he “seeks clarity” over the status of the deal and 777’s ability to get the deal over the line.
The Liverpool Echo report that their sources would not disclose the full nature of the talks but the two parties are hopeful of reaching an outcome before Saturday’s final home game of the season against Sheffield United.
To date, 777 Partners have provided in excess of £200m in loans to provide working capital for day-to-day operations and further construction of the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. However, the origin of those funds and the company’s reliance on US insurance outfit A-CAP were questioned in a lawsuit filed in New York by two London-based companies accusing 777 of “double-pledging” assets.
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A-CAP’s moves to reduce its exposure to 777 Partners’ assets, beginning last month with their reinsurance subsidiary 777 Re, suggests that a primary source of the capital Wander and company have been using to fund their acquisition of majority stakes in a number of football clubs could now dry up.
That has left 777 scrambling to find a minimum of another £220m to satisfy the conditions set by the Premier League before full approval of their buy-out of Moshiri’s shares can be granted.
Meanwhile, 777-owned Standard Liege have been hit with a third transfer ban in less than 12 months due to missed payments last month.
Myers said: “I understand there are serious doubts around the 777 Partners acquisition within the Club and discussions are focused on bringing a resolution this week, and more importantly, focusing on the way forward for [Everton].”
Reader Comments (27)
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Frank Crewe
4 Posted
08/05/2024 at
13:41:35
Since the Premier League haven’t given Moshiri or 777 Partners the go-ahead, I don’t see how any deal can be sorted by Saturday. If they try it, the Premier League will block it.
Jay Harris
5 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:02:32
I wish that were true but I have a feeling it will be more like.
“Okay, guys, I am getting a lot of pressure – how can we get the funds to make this happen? Uz is keen to get this over the line so, if you need any help, we are there for you.”
Mike Hayes
6 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:27:28
Hopefully that won’t happen and there are genuine buyers ready to step in.
After the dust settles, Moshiri and Kenwright should be airbrushed out of our history.
The only saving grace – if it remains ours – is the stadium. Fingers crossed all turns out well.
Kieran Kinsella
7 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:30:55
What was the very subtle clue or key piece of evidence that led Moshiri and his cronies to realize there may be some reason to question 777 Partners’ credentials?
Jerome Shields
8 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:34:55
Sorry but I do not have any confidence in a meeting between Moshiri and 777 Partners.They both lack of credibility or substance. Anything that arises out of that meeting will be bullshit , like the reports of what the meeting is about.Moshiri has hocked Everton to the limit, what he actually owns is worthless.777 Partners have hocked everything they own beyond the limit.They both may try to put forward a restructuring plan, to gain relevance and Creditability, which will be worthless because for a Restructure Plan to work the Recovery Specialist has to have a direct substantial Equity Interest and be capable.Both Moshiri and 777 Partners have neither and would have no Credibility with other Creditors at Everton. It is only when a Creditable and Capable Recovery Specialist with substantial Equity Interest emerges that Everton will move forward.There will be more Cowboying about, as what is happening at the moment. It looks like Everton will have to travel further down the road to Administration for serious, worthwhile and difficult conversations to take place.
Peter Hodgson
9 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:36:10
Whether that will be good or bad depends on your outlook I suppose!
More likely is the sound of a can being kicked down the road again.
Len Hawkins
10 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:46:01
Yes, he has spent money… but not to the benefit of Everton – most of it by the failed managers he brought in. If this goes through with these gangsters, then I’m afraid the name of this great club will be dragged through the gutter.
Other than making Kenwright a very rich man, everything he has touched has turned to well-rotted manure. I wish he would take his or Usmanov’s money and run – don’t look back, just keep going!
I have had a lot going on in my life over the last couple of years, from losing my wife of 48 years to suffering depression, having knee replacements… to keep reading each twist of the knife he has kept sticking in the heart of Evertonians all over the world.
As we teeter on the block with a noose around our necks, hurry up, get on with it, save our suffering, and kick it from under us.
Moshiri has done immense damage to an institution – this isn’t just a football club he has ruined, it is the heart and soul of everyone who was born, invited, or just on a lucky Saturday out to Goodison Park who have been ripped apart.
He will point to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock as his baby – the least he can do is tell us where he has hidden the money to pay off the final invoice – or is that going to be ripped from our dreams too.
Steve Brown
11 Posted
08/05/2024 at
15:50:42
Moshiri needs to accept a smaller return from an alternative bidder; otherwise, he could end up with nothing.
Roger Helm
12 Posted
08/05/2024 at
16:09:28
The more I read about Evertons finances, the more confused I get, so it would be no good me offering an opinion. When the dust settles, at least we will have a football club, though heaven knows what state it will be in and where. And far from airbrushing Kenwright and Moshiri out of history, we and everyone else in football should hold them up to shame as an example of what can happen with the wrong owners.
Andrew Clare
13 Posted
08/05/2024 at
16:12:07
It seems that Moshiri is hell bent on getting this deal with 777 Partners over the line. He couldn’t give a toss about the club and its fans.
Jerome is right the meeting with Moshiri and 777 Partners this week will just result in more inconclusive bullshit.
Jerome Shields
14 Posted
08/05/2024 at
16:30:39
Out of frustration and despair, both transient things, Everton and Evertonians, will be reborn with new words and new powers. Prophecy is a affliction of the articulate or inarticulate often in my case.But Everton will have built a character, which enabled them to get through a season like no other Club in history did. So the question is why should it stop now?
Sorry to hear of the life stage trials you are going through, but you seem determined to keep standing. We need more people like you.
Neil Lawson
15 Posted
08/05/2024 at
16:45:45
This is pure PR nonsense. I believe that very little of what is being disclosed is either accurate or true.
Every day brings a new reliable account of 777 difficulties evidencing a complete lack of accessible funds.
I genuinely feel that Wander and his cronies are just chancers, or worse, but they will cling on as long as they possibly can to feed their own egos and to try to support their other failing ventures. Unfortunately, Moshiri has shown himself to be just as inept without the courage nor the acumen to call time. He must be absolutely desperate. Any other proper businessman would have ditched 777 a long time ago.
Denis Richardson
16 Posted
08/05/2024 at
16:54:15
Things must be getting pretty desperate on the 777 front albeit I’m not sure how they get their £200m back if they can’t complete the club purchase
I imagine there must be a fair few vultures circling the wounded animal that is Everton
This really should be a Netflix blockbuster but doubt even half of the real goings on will ever come to light.
James Hughes
17 Posted
08/05/2024 at
17:07:41
They have now sent a doctor to Moshri and charged him £5million just so the doctor can confirm that a prostate is one end and a humerus the other.
Alas nothing humerous with our situation
Gavin Johnson
18 Posted
08/05/2024 at
17:46:28
Paul Quinn reckons this meeting is BS and just another Moshiri/777 tactic to placate and keep kicking the can down the road.
Kevin Molloy
19 Posted
08/05/2024 at
17:59:37
I wonder whether Wander will now wander away.
Colin Malone
20 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:00:54
It was Usmanov money, in the first place. He has got to be involved.
Alan McGuffog
21 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:05:46
What a crock of shite
Mark Ryan
22 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:11:29
I hear the main man Josh Wander lives in Miami and has a mortgage on his house, is that true ? Not even a Millionaire ? Is he simply playing a game for Usmanov. 777 buy the club but actually it still belongs to Usmanov. We are a joke
David Vaughan
23 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:12:35
We are doomed, morally or actually, if this proves true. What an utter car crash.
Alec Gaston
24 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:32:35
22 Mark, I agree the whole thing feels like a charade to enable Usmanov to fund the stadium – I cant work out why though
Hector Blaukugel
25 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:34:30
I wouldn’t trust Moshiri to go the shop for ciggies for my Nan. The club needs a complete reset, 777 shouldn’t be anywhere near it. Standard Liege are in shit street with them.
Derek Taylor
26 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:56:05
I can see no chance of Usmanov getting access to his money whilst his country remains at war, so why not cause chaos in the west?
Only Everton could get involved in this situation,
Thank you, Bill.
Pat Kelly
27 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:57:32
How could any future plan from 777 be given any credibility ? Theyre surviving from day to day shuffling other peoples money around.
The game is up and Moshiri has to call them out. Will he refund their 200m ? They cant convert it into shares if they dont acquire the Club. Have they any security against it ? Maybe Moshiris yacht.
Jerome Shields
28 Posted
08/05/2024 at
18:59:36
Yes Netflex will be next or maybe even ITV.Looking forward to seeing Michael, Lydon and Paul the Esk in the flesh.
John Raftery
29 Posted
08/05/2024 at
19:02:59
This is a weird situation. Presumably Moshiri thinks he is acting in his own best interests. Only he knows what game he is playing but from the outside it feels like the financial equivalent of taking the ball to the corner flag to waste time even though the team is losing.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
Christine Foster
3 Posted
08/05/2024 at
12:31:18
If not, the supplemental follow-up is: “When?”
And the response will be: “Then we will see what the advisers advise, but I must inform you in the interest of the club, we will have to seek a solution from any other interested party. Unless we do so the club faces administration.”
It’s Jerry Maquire time.