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Palace valued at just under £350m

A consortium of sport and entertainment executives, which includes the NBA star Jimmy Butler, is expected to make an offer in excess of $200million to purchase Eagle Football’s 43 per cent stake in Premier League soccer club Crystal Palace, sources briefed on the proposed deal have told The Athletic.

The group is led by former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and former Roc Nation attorney Wajid Mir, with the pair having previously agreed in January a period of exclusivity with John Textor — the largest shareholder in Eagle Football and one of Palace’s four primary owners — which they allowed to lapse.

The Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd had formed part of that consortium but instead chose to join the ownership group of Everton in April. Now Butler, a six-time NBA all-star who has been with the Golden State Warriors since February, has become part of the wider group. Eagle and Butler, via his representatives, have been approached for comment.

Previously backed by two Saudi Arabian businessmen, Haider and Mansoor Syed, the original group opted to allow its 30-day period of exclusivity to end and instead sought alternative funding. The new consortium, sources added, is backed by an American group which has experience investing in soccer clubs. Talks with Textor have already been held.

Should the group’s expected offer be accepted, it would value Palace — which won the English FA Cup, the world’s oldest soccer cup competition, for the first time in May — as a whole in excess of $465million (£343m).

Sources also added that Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, has also made an offer for Eagle’s shares but has yet to meet Textor’s valuation.

Should the consortium be successful in buying out Eagle, it may subsequently look to carry out a full takeover of Palace in due course in order to have full decision-making power.

A fan commented: ‘Textor has been ‘dicking around’ (to use the technical term) with his Crystal Palace shares for the best part of two years. His Eagle Holdings need to make a profit on his Palace shares to keep alive his dreams of a massive cash out when he floats Eagle Holdings. But it’s clear that he has to sell, so he’s less in control of the price.’

 

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