A Miami-based firm called 777 Partners, are reportedly in ‘advanced talks’ with Premier League club Everton over a full takeover of the club, check out all the detail below along with the owner details and net worth
777 Partners have been linked with a minority or majority stake in Everton ever since the start of the year.
Who are 777 Partners, owner, net worth and Everton FC sale details
🗣️ “They do specialise in buying clubs who tend to be in a form of financial distress.”
Football Finance Expert @KieranMaguire says 777 Partners, the company close to a takeover of Everton are historically not successful on the pitch from the other clubs they own. pic.twitter.com/33HN2tVFv6
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 12, 2023
Miami-based 777 Partners are close to agreeing a deal to take over Everton 🏟️💰
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 12, 2023
According to reports, 777 Partners and current Everton owner Farhad Moshiri are now in ‘advanced talks’ for a potential takeover.
Farhad Moshiri looking to sell Everton
Current Everton owner Moshiri has long been looking to sell some of his 94 per cent shareholding in the club. Moshiri is looking to recapitalise the business, but this has proved difficult due to relegation fears last season. Moshiri was initially looking to bring in a minority partner back in January. However, due to the club’s problems, he is now willing to walk away from the club at a major loss.
The club need to secure more finance for their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, and could also face potential punishment for alleged breaches of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Just earlier this year, New York-based MSP Sports Capital, were keen on taking over the club. Co-founders Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moorad even attended the January defeat to Southampton. MSP eventually offered a £150m deal, including a £100m in funding for the stadium via a loan with warrants, and the rest £50m for a 25% stake in the business. It also included seats on the board as well as some form of operational control.
Although the deal seemed certain, it broke down just last month following objections from Rights and Media Funding Limited. Rights and Media Funding Ltd are an existing Everton lender and did not agree over the fund structure. However, the £100m loan plan for the stadium through MSP still remains intact and will proceed.
777 Partners
777 Partners are a Miami-based firm, which was co-founded in 2015 by Josh Wander and Steve Pasko. Both Wander and Pesko formerly worked at another Florida investment firm called SuttonPark Capital. Back in September last year, Wander made a statement in an interview clarifying the position of his company. He stated:
“777 Partners is a company based in Miami, we are a holding – I insist – we are not an investment fund. We have six main areas we work in: insurance, aviation, sport, media, and entertainment. We support many companies around the planet but not to investment funds – I am in charge of the business and there are no other external investors.”
They have $12bn worth of assets, there will be a combination of both borrowing and equity.
777 Portfolio
777 Partners have quite a varied portfolio of investments, ranging from sports and entertainment to aviation and financial technology. The firm has over $6bn worth in assets under management. They already own several football teams across different as well. They own Genoa in Italy, Vasco de Gama in Brazil, Melbourne Victory in Australia, Standard Liege in Belgium, Red Star in France and Hertha Berlin in Germany.
777 have acquired all these clubs to build a multi-club portfolio. They also have a minority stake in Spanish club Sevilla. Aside from football, they also have a stake in British Basketball League (BBL) team London Lions. 777 were also interested in acquiring Newcastle Unite in the past and even had ‘exploratory talks’ with Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley. However, no deal was finalized and talks were reportedly only at a very early stage.
777 Partners under scrutiny and scandal
Despite their success and wide portfolio, 777 partners have come under scrutiny over recent years. Many of the clubs under the firm have reportedly struggled following their respective takeovers. Moreover, co-founder Wander has also had his past come into focus, after recently sharing about his arrest in 2003 for cocaine trafficking when he was a student.
During an interview, Wander shared:
“It was a stupid college thing. So all of the success that I’ve had has been in spite of the fact that every time I’ve tried to do something, somebody brings that up and throws it in my face. And when I got involved in investing in sports, it became a perfect opportunity for those people that are haters to try to destroy you with things that are somewhat meaningless.”
Despite all this scandal surrounding him, Wander was recently elected to the board of the European Clubs Association (ECA). The election took place last week at its elective general assembly in Berlin. The ECA represents the interests of over 200 professional football clubs across Europe. The ECA board consists of 24 full members and four subdivision representatives.
Given below are notable members of the ECA:
- PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi
- Peter Lawwell of Celtic
- Ferran Soriano of Manchester City
- Vinai Venkatesham of Arsenal
- Oliver Mintzlaff of RB Leipzig
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