The Premier League has approved Friedkin Group’s takeover of Everton following years of poor performance on the pitch and mounting debt off it.
Dan Friedkin and former Everton owner Farhad Moshiri reached a deal in September and have been negotiating terms ever since.
Friedkin plans to make transfers to strengthen the men’s team and develop a commercial strategy for the women’s team, according to a statement made on Thursday (19). He will pay Moshiri less than $50 million for his Everton stake, as previously reported by Bloomberg.
The Friedkin Group is one of the largest independent Toyota distributors in the world and has a chain of luxury resorts, according to its website. Friedkin, as an individual, flies planes as a hobby. He bought Italian club Roma in 2020, and in 2022 the team won the Conference League under coach José Mourinho, who has since stepped down.
Since taking over the Liverpool-based team in 2016, Moshiri has spent almost $1 billion trying to turn around Everton’s fortunes. However, its financing dried up, and a sale to Miami-based 777 Partners fell through earlier this year, leaving room for other interested parties. Friedkin held exclusive talks before announcing in July that it would not proceed with the acquisition.
According to the Football BenchmarkEverton’s valuation, including debt, is £474 million ($632 million) as calculated in January 2024. Everton are ranked 25th among Europe’s most valuable football clubs, while Roma are ranked 23rd place. Real Madrid, the most valuable club, has a valuation range of between £4.4 billion and £5.6 billion.
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Everton, who had points deducted for violating so-called profit and sustainability rules, are one of the founding members of the English Football League in the 1880s and one of the few teams to have never been relegated from the Premier League.
The club will move to a new 53,000-seat stadium next year, which it hopes will help boost its revenue.
© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
