Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, co-founders of embattled sports-focused private equity investment firm 777 Partners, have stepped back from their roles as managing partners amid growing financial struggles.
Wander and Pasko were previously removed from the board of the investment fund’s soccer division after 777 hired the advisory services firm B. Riley to aid in an operational restructuring after several high-profile setbacks landed 777 in hot water.
The pair resigned as managing partners, while Pasko and Josh Wander’s sister Mollie resigned as manager of the 600 Partners fund (an associated fund of 777), with B. Riley Advisory Service’s co-chief executive Ian Ratner and senior managing director Ronald Glass stepping in to manage both.
Pasko and Wander had been the driving forces behind the firm’s bid to purchase English Premier League soccer side Everton, handing out over £200 million ($249.6 million) in loans to the club over a drawn-out purchasing process that is now looking increasingly unlikely to be completed.
In recent months, 777’s Australian budget airline Bonza collapsed and court proceedings were brought against the firm in the US after a pair of investment funds claimed 777 and Wander owed them millions of dollars in damages.
This is after 777 pledged over $350 million in assets it allegedly knew it did not have or did not own as collateral for a loan it received.
777 has been named in 17 lawsuits in total with the Leadenhall suit claiming Wander and Pasko are “operating a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst.”
It also describes 777 as a “house of cards on the brink of collapse.”
That house of cards now seems to be collapsing, as earlier in May two of 777’s owned soccer teams, Belgium’s Standard Liege and Brazil’s Vasco da Gama, were seized by their respective governments over issues related to the non-payment of debts (Standard), as well as the ongoing US fraud case (Vasco).
Beyond Vasco and Standard, 777 also owns Italian top-tier side Genoa, German second-tier strugglers Hertha Berlin, and soon-to-be second-tier French side Red Star, and has investments in Australia’s Melbourne Victory and Spain’s Sevilla.
777 also seems to be seeking to exit its investment in the British Basketball League competition, of which it owns 45%, with the league this week reportedly in search of new financial backing.
