Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and his Blue Heaven Holdings (BHH) company have reached an agreement to sell his 94% stake in the English Premier League soccer club to the Friedkin Group.
Subject to approval from the Premier League, English soccer’s Football Association governing body, and the UK’s financial regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Friedkin Group will end Moshiri’s tumultuous reign atop the Merseyside club.
A Friedkin Group spokesperson stated: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club. We are focused on securing the necessary approvals to complete the transaction. We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future, including the completion of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock."
The group had previously been in negotiations with Moshiri earlier in 2024 but backed out of the deal after stating the £200 million ($258.4 million) Everton owes to now collapsed private equity firm 777 and financial insurers A-Cap was a stumbling block due to legal issues 777 faces in the US and the potential risks associated with this.
Now, however, with 777’s dissolution and fraud case underway in the US, the group seems to have been assured of the club’s future financial security.
Before the end of previous negotiations, Friedkin Group injected £200 million into the club and paid off a £158 million loan to MSP Sports Capital and local businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing, so the group remained a lender to the club it will now own.
The Friedkin Group is the company for the collected business enterprises of US businessman Dan Friedkin and his family.
While Friedkin’s wealth most prominently comes from his ownership of motor vehicle distributor Gulf States Toyota, which he inherited from his father, through Friedkin Group he also owns the high-profile Italian soccer club Roma.
Friedkin purchased Roma for €591 million (then $700 million) in 2020, becoming one of several prominent US owners to enter Italy’s top-flight Serie A in recent times.
While he has invested money into the playing squad and has overseen the club winning the 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League, it has not been plain sailing at the Rome-based outfit and just this week its chief executive Lina Souloukou resigned due to controversy around the sacking of manager Daniele De Rossi and allegations of meddling in on-pitch affairs.
Farhad Moshiri purchased 49.9% of Everton in 2016, upping his stake to 94% in 2022. In recent years, the club has been mired in financial difficulty stemming from the withdrawal of major investor Alisher Usmanov and costs surrounding the club’s new Bramley Moore Dock stadium.
Such is the extent of this fiscal malaise that the club has endured several points deductions imposed by the Premier League for financial mismanagement.
