The Friedkin Group reaches agreement to buy Everton

[Zatara]

Can add me to group C.. but as yet I don’t have enough to draw their reasons.
On the surface TFG have acted recklessly by paying off a debt into an entity they didn’t understand or were given false promises on, only to find out it wasn’t true (the nature of the 777 debt)..
The other option is they know exactly what they doing and hope to gain a financial advantage by this action.
But one thing is sure, TFG could just pay the money into Everton to settle and then covert that into equity on the purchase and lose nothing (depending on our owners play in this and does anyone actually trust Moshiri as an ethical businessman)

It does seem foolish on their part if they truly believed that they could get a discount on the £200mil 777 loan.

We're not talking about a foolish company or foolish people.

So im confident in group C.

I've said all along, Moshiri is quite possibly a dead man if he doesn't recover enough of Uncle Usy's money in a sale. But no one in their right mind will actually pay that much money for the club. Tough spot.

Youve been watching Gomorra + Suburra on repeat.

Moshiri is worth north of £2billion.

He could quite easily reimburse Usmanov.

 

[kenada_blue]

buy what why wouldn’t this guy of just did it

if he paid 200 mill to elsewhere?

From what I've read he could've but it would've just been left in a holding account until the legal process with A-Cap have been resolved. There's no time frame on it or what could happen, so still wouldn't technically be released from the club.

Friedkin didn't want that hassle or be linked to it. Every other potential buyer will have the same issue.

It's a toxic loan that'll stop the whole process unless a buyer.

 

[kenada_blue]

It does seem foolish on their part if they truly believed that they could get a discount on the £200mil 777 loan.

We're not talking about a foolish company or foolish people.

So im confident in group C.



Youve been watching Gomorra + Suburra on repeat.

Moshiri is worth north of £2billion.He could quite easily reimburse Usmanov.

Mosh should pay that loan back himself the absolute fraud.

 

[kenada_blue]

Understandable they dont want to have theirs hands muddied but surely before the period of exclusivity they would have known or seen this coming with 777 unless they unearthed alot more in their background checks

I bet there will be looooads that came out of the woodwork they didn't know about as it went on.

You don't progress fast then suddenly pull the plug that quick if not

 

[kenada_blue]

Why cant it simply be paid off as per the terms of the agreement?

Isn't due to an issue about where it came from and who legally owns it?

From what I read it can be paid but it doesn't clear until the legal case is resolved. So Friedkin could own the club but still have £200mill of toxic debt associated with him and the club.

And they don't know what'll happen or how long the legal case is.

 

[Exeter_Gently]

I've had time to reflect and calm down...there is still going to be interest,there will be more bidders.

Lets not press the panic button just yet.

 

[catcherintherye]

Why Friedkin Group pulled out of Everton takeover and what happens next

Everton takeover news as Dan Friedkin's group pull out of negotiations to buy the club from Farhad Moshiri

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Not much doubt in that story.

FG just didnt wanna deal with any of that 777 crap, cos they are basically a ponzi scheme and things will go very badly for anybody involved.

Whilst Everton arent involved, their name is certainly gonna get dragged through the mud.

There is a range of possibilities with that stuff, which at the far end may end of up with criminal charges. One interesting aspect to this, is if it started to hit Everton in such a way, don't rule out action against the PL. It's highly unlikely, but a possibility never the less.

My suspicion is that they want to see it play out and at least know what you are dealing with. Once it plays out, in all likelihood you can greatly negotiate down King, as they may be in admin and he will have no security.

The best way I can describe it, its like buying a house, and the survey says there's a 1% chance that you will have to pay to knock it down and rebuild the whole thing, and a 75% chance you get 20% off. But you need to wait for the outcome of a trial. Lots of people will sit it out and wait.

 

[OnlyTheBestIsGoodEnough]

I've had time to reflect and calm down...there is still going to be interest,there will be more bidders.

Lets not press the panic button just yet.

That's why I didn't panic 3 parties had their bid accepted and there were others interested as well

 

[catcherintherye]

Isn't due to an issue about where it came from and who legally owns it?

From what I read it can be paid but it doesn't clear until the legal case is resolved. So Friedkin could own the club but still have £200mill of toxic debt associated with him and the club.

And they don't know what'll happen or how long the legal case is.

That's basically it. I think there is an unknown factor. I also think there's a question of how this is done, who you pay, how you pay etc.

I've seen escrow accounts mentioned, but this would need to be negotiated with the American Court who are not going to have Everton at the top of their list of priorities. So it's not as simple as just putting money aside unless you have an agreement with the relevant people, which is currently hard to decipher.

 

[tirion]

Credible purchasers like Friedkin?? The whole time you were literally grilling the Friedkin group for providing no funds for player purchases in almost every post you put on as if they owned Everton. Don't start moving the goal posts now. You remind me of Hank out of Me, Myself and Irene. You are actually bonkers

Just because someone or something seems credible doesn’t mean you can’t question it, if I was on the verge of buying a football club like Everton I would be looking for a way to send a message to the organisation that things are changing, instead they did nothing, on paper they looked credible in reality same old same old

 

[catcherintherye]

I've had time to reflect and calm down...there is still going to be interest,there will be more bidders.

Lets not press the panic button just yet.

It's bad but not in the way people say. As usual the idiots around the mythical fire sale back out again (what happened to the January fire sale, or the May fire sale, or the June fire sale, or the July fire sale etc).

Short term TFG have heavily capitalised the club, paid off imminently due debt which could have triggered admin (and was frankly the central risk factor of that). They have paid off the stadium so no more money required for that. At a much lower interest rate than previous and money not due back in the short term. Everton have Sky money coming in August, and Onana cash dropping, as well as money for Gordon. Not only will this be cash-cash, but it will be booked as high profit on the accounts.

The issue is more longer term, in that we will require a new buyer, as Moshiri has checked out. The club is still paying high rates on it's debt, which is a big part of why we lose money and at some point pinch points re-emerge.

There's also the issue that the club lacks leadership.

 

[catcherintherye]

You would imagine though that if TFG are as reputable an organisation as they appear to be and the connection to 777/A-Cap’s pending litigation was too much for them, why didn’t they pull out sooner? That litigation has been reported on for at least four or five weeks.

So was it that they did not want to be connected or was it something about the financial construct of the agreement. Something just doesn’t sit right with the timing for me. But if it was just being connected and potentially being reputationally dragged through the mud, why would any other reputable bidders not fear the same?

Something seemed to change, which is the question. Maybe they expected a resolution from the court case last week?

Not every business will be as concerned about contagion to brand, of something that really isn't to do with Everton. Some will, others won't.

 

[catcherintherye]

Just did a bit of forensic on the Friedkin takeover of Roma.

They actually did exactly what they did to us today at Roma, pulled out of the e deal, then long months later returned to complete the deal on better terms.

I wouldn’t fall if my chair if they come back in for us and this is them drawing a line in a game of won, loose on price or who takes the 777 haircut.

It's not uncommon in M/A transactions for this sort of thing to happen. There are some differences though. They are paying Moshiri very well, so it's not like they can bargain that down much.

I suspect it has to do with trying to negotiate down creditors (specifically King) and/or allowing the v unlikely but very damaging event that the stuff with 777 gets generalised. Currently Moshiri is on the hook for that. Until the court case is decided, any possibility is open. Once that is resolved then you know what you are dealing with, and you remove the possibility of black swan event. You also have the chance to then heavily negotiate King down, as he has unsecured debt that in all likelihood he would never receive given where he sits in relation to other creditors. Throw in their org being in admin, and if somebody offers say 5p in the pound and they may take it.

I am buying a house currently, solicitors want money for checks, I'm not paying them anything until the survey is done. Once that is cleared, I will move forward. I do wonder if that is some of the thinking here.

 

[Eggsyblueskin]

Ultimately TFG didn’t want Everton enough to override their concerns over 777’s loan.
Simply they didn’t value ownership of Everton worth the perceived risk.
That’s another bullet dodged for me.
I would prefer to be owned by people who valued the club and didn’t just see us purely as a vehicle to increase their wealth.

 

[kenada_blue]

There is a range of possibilities with that stuff, which at the far end may end of up with criminal charges. One interesting aspect to this, is if it started to hit Everton in such a way, don't rule out action against the PL. It's highly unlikely, but a possibility never the less.

My suspicion is that they want to see it play out and at least know what you are dealing with. Once it plays out, in all likelihood you can greatly negotiate down King, as they may be in admin and he will have no security.

The best way I can describe it, its like buying a house, and the survey says there's a 1% chance that you will have to pay to knock it down and rebuild the whole thing, and a 75% chance you get 20% off. But you need to wait for the outcome of a trial. Lots of people will sit it out and wait.

Yeah it's what I've gathered from it all.

Every other potential buyer will have to make the same decision over it.

Still don't know why Mosh doesn't just pay it. Once its in the clear...the the buyer pays him.