Cause of Friedkin takeover collapse emerges as Everton plunged 'back into crisis' in past 24-hrs - report

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].

And it was the complicated nature of the 777 question that was highlighted by The Esk (16 July) as a potential stumbling block for the latest takeover attempt.

But it had been deemed not unsurmountable and Alan Myers had not heard of any issues up to 9 July so there remained plenty of hope that this time the chaos around the club would soon be over.

Instead Evertonians are now thrown back into a similar state of concern as they faced throughout last season amid fears over the future of the club.

There were multiple other bidders before Friedkin won the race to succeed 777 so whether the likes of George Downing and Andy Bell will come forward again remains to be seen.

Friedkin had provided substantial loans of his own already to pay off another creditor, former takeover rival MSP Sports Capital [Liverpool Echo, 24 June], so a situation that sees various failed takeover attempts still tied to the club in the form of debt only continues.

This is now the fourth time exclusivity has been granted and not ended in success and Moshiri’s choice to go with 777 throughout last season will likely now come under even greater criticism.

In other Everton news, the Toffees have made an approach to sign a player with an £84million release clause.

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