New interest in Everton minority stake from ‘multi-club owner’

Everton had a morale-boosting win at Goodison Park over the weekend, and there could be more positive news for the club off the pitch as well with the news that there is a new interested party looking to invest in the club.

Bloomberg News are reporting that Miami-based private equity firm 777 Partners LLC are in talks with the club regarding a minority stake. The negotiations have reportedly not progressed to where an official offer has been made, with preliminary discussions still ongoing.

MSP Holdings has been linked on and off for the last few months with making a similar bid as a number of Premier League clubs have been purchased by American investment firms in recent years. The last update on MSP was that they too were looking at buying a minority stake in Everton, but that interest might have cooled off as they are also weighing a purchase of Tottenham Hotspur.

Led by managing partners Steven Pasko and Josh Wander, 777 are a multi-club owner with a stable of clubs around the world including Hertha Berlin in Germany, Genoa in Italy, Vasco de Gama in Brazil, Standard Liege in Belgium and Red Star F.C. in France as well as minority stakes in Sevilla in Spain and Melbourne Victory in Australia.

In a recent interview, majority shareowner Farhad Moshiri seemed to indicate that stadium construction costs have escalated beyond what was planned for despite the club locking in a spending limit ahead of breaking ground at the Bramley-Moore Dock. The club is loosely valued at about £500 million, which is about the same amount as what the new stadium was expected to cost.

A quick look at 777’s website shows a firm that is well-entrenched in a diverse portfolio beyond sports, media and entertainment. Among their goals are ‘transforming potential into reality’, through -

Properties: 777 has acquired an unrivaled portfolio of marquee football and basketball clubs around the world; operated under a disciplined, data-driven philosophy and accelerated by technology to become one of the most exciting media and entertainment brands in the world.
Through our vertically integrated model, our sports clubs unlock instant access to a scalable, multi-club platform to bolster their athletic strategy, marketing initiatives, asset financing, data analytics, content creation and distribution, and operational expertise.

Rights & IP: 777 has invested directly in sports rights, including the international commercial distribution rights for the Argentinian and Brazilian soccer leagues, the Chilean and Peruvian national soccer teams, and the top European women’s soccer leagues in the world.
We increase the value of our rights by fortifying team rosters with new talent, and strengthening their earnings potential via talent and product development, sponsorships, merchandising, advertising, distribution strategy, NFTs, Web3 approach, data monetization, fantasy sports, and gaming.

Digital Distribution: We’ve tapped into a vast, underdeveloped market with massive consumer appetite for sports content. We apply best-in-class teams and technology to enable breakthroughs in digital content packaging and distribution.
We work tirelessly to create a media experience that hits every consumer touchpoint. Our synergistic model and omni-channel approach allow us to seamlessly create, package and distribute sports content, dramatically increasing the value of our teams’ assets.

Reading their site further indicates an interest in using analytics to improve performance across their portfolio, an approach that would go a long way in taking the Toffees from their current sub-standard business practices that has over the years seen Everton fall from being one of the top teams in the league to an also-ran that is now in their second consecutive relegation battle.