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US businessman Dan Friedkin has agreed to buy a majority stake in English Premier League team Everton from current owner Farhad Moshiri, potentially ending years of uncertainty at one of football’s oldest clubs.
The Friedkin Group, which also owns Italian football club AS Roma, and Everton said on Monday that they had agreed the terms of a sale of the Liverpool-based team, subject to regulatory approval.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement to become custodians of this iconic football club,” said the group. “We look forward to providing stability to the club, and sharing our vision for its future.”
Friedkin, who has a net worth of around $6bn according to Forbes, had been in talks to buy Everton earlier in the year, but those talks collapsed in July. The Friedkin Group, which made its fortune selling Toyota cars across the south of the US, instead became a lender to Everton’s new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium project.
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Everton has been searching for a buyer for more than two years, and has appeared close to a deal on several previous occasions. In the meantime, the club’s stretched finances have forced a wave of player sales and left the team near the bottom of the Premier League table for the past few seasons.
Moshiri had previously agreed to sell the club to US investment firm 777 Partners in September last year. As part of the agreement, 777 funded the running costs of the club for several months with loans of more than $200mn.
However, that deal unravelled in June soon after the Miami-based firm called in restructuring experts to help it overcome what it called “operational challenges”. 777, which bought or invested in a network of football clubs across the world, is now embroiled in a legal battle with one of its lenders.
Everton has also been the subject of recent takeover interest from US entrepreneur John Textor, whose company Eagle Football owns Olympique Lyonnais in France. Textor is in the process of selling his stake in Premier League side Crystal Palace in preparation for buying another English club.