Everton plunged back into crisis as cause of Dan Friedkin takeover collapse emerges

Dan Friedkin’s Everton takeover is off due to concerns over the debt to former prospective buyers 777 Partners, according to The Athletic.

Matt Slater reports via the outlet’s website on 19 July that the club have been plunged “back into crisis” after the Roma chief’s group withdrew from negotiations a day earlier over the £200million-plus owed to the stricken American firm.

That debt is now controlled by the original lenders of the money A-Cap with 777 themselves in the hands of insolvency experts.

777 were dogged by months of lawsuits over unpaid bills, late payments and allegations of fraud, which have been denied, before their portfolio began to unravel.

A-Cap themselves are said to now be fighting for their own future after lending millions to 777 and Friedkin has “clearly looked at this situation and decided it is simply too fraught with risk to proceed”.

777 Partners debt behind Everton takeover failure

There had been recent suggestions that the due diligence process that Friedkin was involved in after reaching an exclusivity agreement with Farhad Moshiri was no foregone conclusion [The Times, 9 July].