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The board of the Premier League said it is “minded” to accept 777 Partners LLC’s bid for the historic club Everton FC if the Miami-based investment group meets a series of conditions for the sale, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg.
The League wrote the letter last Monday after more than six months of scrutinizing the Miami-based firm’s takeover plans and said it “is currently minded” to back the offer, subject to conditions. The League has been seeking commitments on funding the club and financing construction of a new stadium. It is not clear whether the League has added additional conditions.
The conditional approval doesn’t mean the multiclub-owner 777 is guaranteed approval, one of the people said.
The board consists of League Chief Executive Officer Richard Masters, as well as Chair Alison Brittain and board member Mai Fyfield, among others. Representatives for 777 and Everton declined to comment.
In September, 777 said that it had agreed to buy 94.1% of the club from owner Farhad Moshiri. Since then, it has faced questions from the League over its suitability to own the historic Liverpool team.
Acquiring Everton would give 777, co-led by Steven Pasko and Josh Wander, ownership of one of the most storied clubs in England. 777, whose clubs include Hertha Berlin and Standard Lieige, is one of a growing number of multiclub owners in world football but it has also attracted scrutiny over its financial practices.
Since September, 777 has injected more than £150 million ($189 million) into Everton to cover working capital requirements and allow construction of a nearly 53,000-seat stadium in Liverpool’s Bramley docks.
Founded in 1878, the team has played continuously in the country’s top tier since the early 1950s but it hasn’t won a trophy since 1995. In recent years, the team has flirted with relegation and struggled financially off the pitch.
777 has appointed the sports investment group Tifosy to help it raise funding. In its prospectus to potential investors, called Project Teaser, it says the Everton acquisition would give the group access to the worlds largest and most-profitable League, which is also the most followed on social media.
Several Premier League clubs, including Arsenal FC, Liverpool and Chelsea, are owned by American-led investor groups. More than a third of England’s professional clubs are now led by Americans.
The team’s on-field fortunes this season have been hit by a 10 points deduction, later reduced to 6 points, for breaching the league’s spending rules. The points penalty was reduced after the club appealed.
“We had no option but to appeal what we felt was an unjustified points reduction,” said interim chief executive Colin Chong on the club’s website.
The club is still facing a charge for allegedly breaking spending rules last season, which might lead to a further points reduction. The team, impacted already by the 6 point deduction, is hovering close to the relegation zone, which could result in it playing next season in the tier below the lucrative Premier League.
