The Friedkin Group step in to provide millions worth of funds as new Everton dawn nears

The Friedkin Group are to fund working capital requirements and ensure completion of the stadium between now and takeover

Prospective Everton owners, The Friedkin Group, will be stepping in to provide the club with working capital between now and completion of the deal. The American firm could be in situ before the end of December.

Last week the Houston-based company, founded and led by US billionaire and owner of Italian giants AS Roma, Dan Friedkin, reached an agreement with Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri to acquire his 94.1% controlling interest in the Toffees that he holds through his Blue Heaven Holdings Limited company.

A share purchase agreement is in place and both sides have communicated the decision to the fanbase. The Friedkin Group now have to obtain regulatory approval from the Premier League, the Football Association, and the Financial Conduct Authority to complete the deal, a process than can take between eight and 12 weeks and one where there aren’t expected to be any issues for the US firm, unlike the problems that the long-doomed bid for the club by 777 Partners ran into repeatedly.

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The Friedkin Group, who had initially walked away from talks owing to concerns over the £200m-plus debt to 777 Partners that existed on the balance sheet and 777’s legal issues in the US pertaining to allegations of ‘fraudulent behaviour, have had more time to conduct due diligence and become comfortable with the challenges that they face at the club.

Everton move into their new 52,888-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock at the start of next season. The new stadium, while a financial millstone around the club’s neck in recent years that has required them to borrow from multiple lenders to meet construction costs, some debt at high interest rates, will be a game changer for the club from a commercial point of view and it is something that was a major part of the appeal for The Friedkin Group.

It hasn’t yet been funded to completiroon, with some remaining tranches of funding required in order to complete the fit-out project.

The ECHO understands that The Friedkin Group, even before taking over officially, will be stepping in to ensure the project is funded to completion as well as covering any working capital costs that the club may need in the short term. The sum is likely to stretch into the ‘tens of millions’, according to sources.

777 Partners had been providing similar funding during their nine-month bid to acquire the club, but that funding had come to them from another lender, A-CAP, and was a high-interest-bearing loan.

The Friedkin Group has already taken on the debt from MSP Sports Capital and other lenders to the tune of £200m, secured against the new stadium. That payment was required due to MSP’s original loan having a maturity date of the end of May.

When the deal for the club is completed, The Friedkin Group are set to pay off a chunk of the loans that exist on the balance sheet to Rights and Media Funding Limited. There is the possibility that they could clear that debt in its entirety, potentially through restructuring at far lower interest rates.

Moshiri’s options had grown more limited as time wore on at Everton, and at a time when the cost of capital was increasing, the interest payments became higher and higher given the lack of interest from the biggest lenders who would usually provide the best rates.

Earlier this year the Guardian revealed that £30m had been paid in interest to Rights and Media Funding Limited, who have provide some £230m in loans to the club to met construction costs, over the last three years, a sum of around £438,000 per week. Restructuring such massive debt and bringing the interest payments right down will be a major focus for The Friedkin Group when they step through the door. A company with a strong reputation, they won’t have any issues in terms of drumming up interest from multiple lenders on much more favourable terms.

For Everton, the start of 2025 is set to herald a new beginning, one where the club looks set to finally turn a corner after many false dawns, and one where there is a cogent and sensible plan to tackle the financial issues that have become the focus of the club for the past three years.