What 777 Partners have said about Everton and ‘absurd’ claims as ‘takeover close’

Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is reportedly close to completing a sale of the club.

According to Bloomberg, 777 Partners are edging towards a deal to purchase the Toffees. Moshiri has been seeking additional investment for several months, with the club recording combined losses of £400 million in the past four years.

Moshiri had been in talks with MSP Sports Capital to invest up to £150 million in convertible debt that would have become a 25% stake but talks broke down.

Miami-based 777 Partners have been linked for some time and re-entered talks - and are now said to be close to completing a takeover for a 'fraction' of what Moshiri has invested. It is reported that a takeover could be announced as soon as today.

Founded in 2015 by Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, 777 have a multi-club model that already hold stakes in Genoa, Standard Liege, Hertha Berlin, Melbourne Victory, Vasco da Gama and Red Star as well as 15% in Sevilla. There have been concerns that many of the clubs they are involved are financially underperforming, however, with Liege fans recently protested against 777 with banners being unfurled that read ‘Your galaxy should not harm our future’ and 'No money, no ambition'.

Wander gave an interview to the Financial Times last month where he declined to comment on any interest in Everton. On 777's critics, he did give a response, though. Wander said: “We have a strong view that there’s a new wave of commercialisation coming to football. (Football clubs) have done a horrible job of commercialising the product.

“It’s so absurd to me that people say we’re not serious when we bought (stakes in) seven clubs in the last 18 months. Is there anyone in the world that’s been more serious about buying football clubs in history than Josh Wander?”

“The vision for this football group is that one day we’re not selling hot dogs and beers to our customers; [it’s] that we’re selling insurance or financial services or whatever.”