Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri insists prospective new owners 777 Partners are “the right people” to take over at the club.
A deal has been agreed for Moshiri to sell his 94% stake to the Miami-based investment firm but it is unlikely to be completed quickly as it faces scrutiny from the Premier League, Football Association and Financial Conduct Authority.
Concerns have been expressed about how 777 group have run the other seven clubs they are involved with – Genoa, Standard Liege, Vasco da Gama, Hertha Berlin, Red Star, Sevilla and Melbourne Victory (the latter two as minority shareholders).
Everton’s Fan Advisory Board published a list of questions it wants 777 to answer but Moshiri sought to allay any fears about the takeover.
“The more time that I have spent with the 777 team, the more my confidence increases that we have found the right people to take the club forward in the modern era,” he told Sky Sports.
“They are highly professional and deliver exactly when they say they will, and I look forward to them achieving all their regulatory approvals and proceeding to completion on the timetable we set.”
Fans at Hertha and Liege have been among the most critical of 777 Partners with fan protests taking place at their respective grounds in recent months.
Josh Wander, 777 co-founder, admitted it had not all been plain sailing for them.
“We’re humble enough to acknowledge that we don’t always get everything right the first time and we have learned a lot over the past few years,” he said.
“At the same time, I would challenge anyone to say we have not improved the sporting and financial performance of every club we’ve invested in, and done so in a fairly short period of time.”
