Eagle, led by John Textor (center) also owns Brazilian soccer side Botafogo. (Lucas Figueiredo/Getty Images)

The Eagle Football Holdings multi-club soccer ownership group is reportedly seeking to borrow as much as $300 million in order to pay off debt it owes to the Ares Management investment fund.

Eagle Football Holdings, the investment vehicle of US businessman John Textor, reportedly accrued as much as $500 million of debt with Ares in the process of acquiring embattled French soccer giants Lyon in 2022.

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Now US publication Bloomberg is reporting that Eagle is looking to leverage new private lenders in order to help settle its debt with Ares, and that it has appointed the TD Cowen unit of the Toronto-Dominion Bank financial services firm to aid a search for new fiscal aid.

Ares owns stock in Eagle and its partners, Mark Affolter and Jim Miller, sit on Eagle’s board.

Eagle Football and Textor are also currently looking to sell a 45% stake in English Premier League side Crystal Palace, ostensibly due to the fact the majority ownership of the club did not want to move closer to Eagle’s model (as well as Textor’s desire to purchase fellow side Everton), but this would also be a move that could bring in more funds to repay Ares.

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Eagle Football has said that there is interest in the stake from investors and according to Bloomberg a final bidder may be identified in November.

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All this feeds into Eagle’s aims of offering an IPO in 2025, after listing the business on the New York Stock Exchange, in which it will offer $100 million of selling shares.

This will come after Eagle raises funding (or attempts to), with an aim of $1.1 billion, to recapitalize the business.

Alongside Lyon and his Crystal Palace holdings, Textor and Eagle also own Brazil’s Botafogo, and Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek.

Players are often moved between the trio of Eagle-owned clubs for both sporting and financial reasons, a practice that is legal but can be perceived as a method for getting around financial fair play restrictions.