The battle to take over Everton is in full swing and fresh reports suggest a new consortium backed by a Saudi royal has surged into the race.
Toffees supporters have been through a turbulent few years with the club enduring three consecutive relegation battles on the pitch and ownership chaos off it.
Everton were on track to be taken over by American firm 777 Partners before the deal ultimately collapsed at the end of May when their exclusivity agreement with majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri ended.
Many view this as a positive development, though, as 777’s record at other clubs is mixed, to say the least, and now there is a real sense of optimism around the club, with interested parties now emerging.
Per journalist for Matt Slater of the Athletic, three have made a concrete bid to take over Everton.
As previously reported by TEAMtalk, the first came from two Liverpool-based businessmen Andy Bell and George Downing, which includes £350m in financing from BDT and MSD partners.
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The second is from a new US group led by MSP Sports Capital, who were in talks to acquire a 25% stake in the club in 2023 before the deal was rejected by one of Everton’s largest creditors, Rights and Media Funding Limited.
Now, a third bidder – a consortium who are reportedly being backed by a Saudi royal and a billionaire Australian family – have come forward.
Serious new bidder for Everton emerges
According to The Independent, a consortium of international investors led by an Everton fan has submitted a ‘£400m all-equity bid to buy the club.’
Vatche Manoukian made the offer to Moshiri on Friday and held a meeting with him on Saturday. He has been in regular contact with Moshiri ‘for weeks’ as he planned his approach.
His proposal would ‘not involve leveraging extra debt on to Everton and putting its future at further risk and would entail providing operational cash and setting up a sustainable long-term strategy.’
It’s claimed the bid has been ‘well received’ and Manoukian is ‘confident’ in its prospects.
The report adds: “Manoukian – a London-based businessman and lawyer and an Everton supporter – is a partner at tech investment firm IMS Digital Ventures and has put together a group including American investors, a Saudi royal and the Australian Myer family. Myer Family Investments has a net asset value of around $1.5bn.
Manoukian and his group view Everton as “perhaps the last sleeping giant available on the market” and “hope to take the club back to it’s traditional position at the top of the game.”
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