Everton’s owners have made ‘surprising’ behind-the-scenes move
Everton’s owners are continuing to improve the club’s financial position after spending a year in charge.
The Friedkin Group (TFG), which is spearheaded by Dan Friedkin, took over Everton from Farhad Moshiri in December 2024.
Everton sold their women’s team to a parent company over the summer in a move that is expected to generate a significant paper profit and ease any lingering profit and sustainability (PSR) fears.
It was revealed last week the Toffees’ board has proposed the payment of a £20 dividend to the club’s shareholders following the women’s team sale.
Meanwhile, David Moyes’s side have also transferred £650million from their share premium, which is the extra money a company receives when it issues new shares at a price above their nominal value.
Why Everton’s owners need to put money into the club imminently
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider he is “surprised” Everton have proposed the dividend to shareholders.
TFG owns around 99.7 per cent of Everton after buying the club from Moshiri.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about TFG’s latest moves, Borson said: “To be honest, it’s just corporate administrative stuff. Reducing the share premium account allows you to distribute dividends or capital to shareholders.
“I’m a bit surprised because I don’t really see that there’s a particular need to distribute let’s say £50m. I don’t actually even think it’s as much as that, but let’s say it was £50m.
“There’s no real purpose to distributing £50m to shareholders when you know that 99.5 per cent of it is going to go to the majority shareholder, who is going to have to put money back into the club to continue to fund its losses imminently.”
Everton’s owners faced a share issue after purchasing the club, with some of their minority investors disgruntled about the share price.
Everton shareholders made ‘bad investments’
Borson has revealed how the dividend will impact the Toffees’ minority investors.
“You’ve got money going out and obviously some of it goes to the minority shareholders, who are some of those fans who held shares historically,” said Borson.
“They’ll receive I think £20 per share. It won’t be much compensation because some of those shares were bought for £3,000-plus in the not-too-distant past actually.
“They’ve been bad investments, but of course, most people probably just want the share certificate in a frame or given it as a gift, so I don’t really understand why they’re doing the dividend. There’s probably a good explanation to it.
“The messing around with the shared premium account is pretty dull stuff, even for the lawyers and accountants. I wouldn’t spend too long pondering it from a footballing perspective. I don’t think it has any impact whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, TFG has invested heavily in Everton in recent months as the ownership group looks to improve the club’s financial situation.
For more Everton and exclusive news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.