Dan Friedkin facing ‘PR headache’ after ‘crazy’ Everton share issue – Borson
Everton’s owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) is facing a “PR headache” after a “crazy” share price issue has emerged at Goodison Park.
That is the view of former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider shares in the Premier League side are worth almost nothing.
The Times reported on 23 January concerned Everton fans estimate each individual share in the club is now worth less than £175 following TFG’s takeover in December.
Shares were being traded in private sales for £3,400 in November.
There are about 1,500 supporters who own approximately 8,000 shares in the Merseysiders, but they have seen their stake diluted after the total number of shares increased from 135,000 to more than 1.6 million as part of the buyout process.
The report claims a meeting was scheduled between fans and the new owners last week as they looked to lay out their plans for the club.
Everton fans should have known shares were worthless
Borson insisted the Everton fans buying shares recently should have known they were a worthless investment.
“First of all, it’s a handful of people this impacts,” Borson told Football Insider.
“This is about a group of people. When I say a handful, it may even be less than 10 people, who bought shares for something like £3,400 a share on the trading facility that Everton have.
“When they bought those shares, I would suggest a sophisticated investor – someone not buying them for emotional or sentimental reasons to own part of Everton before a takeover – those fans should have known that they were worthless from a financial perspective.
“The size of the debt because of the equity, and the debt comes first effectively, the equity was worth almost nothing. To pay £3,400 per share, which valued the equity piece very high, was crazy.
“Ultimately, if you start buying shares, in the absence of fraud, it’s very much buyer beware. It might be painful to see your shares acquired by Friedkin for maybe £100, rather than the £3,400 you paid.
“Friedkin converted a big chunk of the shares for about £175. These shares are worth less than £100 because the equity has no value in the context of this situation. It is what it is.
“It’s a PR headache for Friedkin because the last thing you want to do is come in and be seen to be stealing the club away from the fans from an optics perspective, but it’s not really the reality.
“I think the guy in the article is a South African Everton fan and a multi-millionaire. To be honest, he should have known better.
“If he’s lost money, he made a bad investment, it happens.”
In other news, Everton handed huge Dominic Calvert-Lewin boost.
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