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Everton shareholders demand end to 'farce'

The Everton Shareholders’ Association has demanded that Farhad Moshiri ends the “farce” of 777 Partners’ proposed takeover and recognises that the company is not fit to own the club.

In a hard-hitting statement the group also accused Moshiri, the Everton owner, and the Premier League of showing a lack of respect to the club. It called for an immediate halt to what it describes as a “damaging process”.

Moshiri agreed to sell his 94.1 per cent stake in Everton to 777 in September 2023 but the drawn-out deal has become mired in controversy amid revelations over the financial durability of the Miami-based company.

While 777 has loaned Everton about £200million over the past eight months to cover working capital and costs towards the club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, the American business has been the subject of numerous lawsuits.

Last Friday 777, founded by Josh Wander and Steve Pasko, was accused of fraud running into hundreds of millions of pounds in a lawsuit lodged in a New York district court by the London-based asset management company Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP. It alleges that 777 pledged assets that do not exist as collateral to borrow money and said it is owed $600million (about £480million).

“We are the oldest shareholders’ association in the world and are dismayed by the lack of respect being shown to our football club by the largest shareholder Farhad Moshiri, and the Premier League during what seems a never-ending change of ownership process,” it said.

“We have observed with concern and frustration as it became increasingly clear that a fit-for-purpose process cannot possibly take this long as the Premier League continues to demonstrate their inability to regulate.

“In the absence of the Premier League making a timely decision we insist that the Everton board, and Farhad Moshiri in particular, stop this damaging process now and recognise that 777 Partners are not at this time fit-and-proper prospective owners of Everton Football Club.

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