Everton poised for £200m US takeover

Everton Football Club (EFC) is the subject of a £200m (US$297m, €271.9m) takeover bid, with the club’s shareholders in advanced talks with the former owner of baseball’s San Diego Padres.

US entrepreneur John Jay Moores heads up a consortium of investors, including long-time associate Charles Noell, which has been in discussions over the acquisition for a number of months, according to The Times.

The Premier League club, owned by Bill Kenwright, Robert Earl and Jon Woods, has been seeking outside investment for a number of years in order to finance ambitions stadium development plans and compete in the transfer market.

Moores owned the Californian Major League Baseball franchise for 15 years between 1994 and 2009, helping the team move into an impressive 41,000-capacity stadium, Petco Park, in 2004. Last year he expressed an interest in purchasing Swansea City, although talks broke down.

If Moores’ attempt to take control is successful, Everton would be the latest top-flight club to accept international investment. Fourteen of the 20 Premier League clubs have a portion of their equity owned by foreign investors.

The deal would also increase the league’s American contingent. Arsenal (Stan Kroenke), Aston Villa (Randy Lerner), Liverpool (John W Henry), Manchester United (the Glazer family) and Sunderland (Ellis Short) are all owned by US businessmen.

Last week Crystal Palace won investment from David Blitzer and Josh Harris who own the National Hockey League’s (NHL) New Jersey Devil and the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Philadelphia 76ers.