(Reuters) -American businessman John Textor says he is an “awkward spot” in the process of buying Everton because his information about the club is limited as co-owner of another Premier League side, Crystal Palace, but that he is working through the issues.
Textor, who is selling his shares in Crystal Palace to buy Everton from majority owner Farhad Moshiri, told Sky Sports in an interview that he was close to knowing who would buy his 45% stake in the south London club.
Textor added that he felt Everton’s accounting problems, which led to them being docked eight points last season for breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), were manageable.
Asked about the challenges of completing a deal, he said: “I’m in an awkward spot but we’re working through it. The awkward spot is that I can understand the club’s position … the accounting position and I feel it’s manageable in terms of the PSR problem.”
Textor’s company Eagle Football Group also owns stakes in other clubs including French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais and Brazilian team Botafogo as well as Palace.
“There’s a bit of a Chinese wall between me as an owner of Crystal Palace and what I’m really allowed to know as a prospective owner of another team in the same division,” said Textor, 58.
“But I do think we’re developing solutions for that information gap and I feel we’re in the very last days of getting our comfort around that.”
Everton interim CEO Colin Chong said Textor’s comments represented a “personal view” on matters.
“While positive conversations and progress continues to be made with Mr Textor to formalise any deal with him, there remains some work to be done to complete the transaction,” Chong said.
“The club will provide updates in respect of new investment when there is material news to communicate to supporters and other stakeholders – and this will be done through official club channels.”
Textor said he had received several bids to buy his stake in Palace and “we’re into the final week or two of knowing who the buyer will be”, although his efforts to buy Everton could still be interrupted by competing bids.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ken Ferris)
Comments