Premier League could block Crystal Palace takeover after Everton twist – Borson
Crystal Palace will be protected by the Premier League in any potential takeover deal after it previously blocked 777 Partners from buying Everton.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the party currently looking to buy John Textor’s shares in Palace will have to prove it has the necessary funds to get the deal over the line.
777 was granted exclusivity in September 2023 to buy Everton, but it was unable to complete the deal after failing to meet conditions set out by the Premier League.
Textor had also been looking to take over the Merseysiders after he instructed merchant bank Raine Group to identify interested parties for his 45 per cent stake in Palace, but his deal at Goodison Park fell through.
The American billionaire told Sky Sports on 12 September he was “into the final week or two of knowing who the buyer will be” for his shares at Selhurst Park.
The Athletic reported on 6 January a group backed by individuals from the US and Saudi Arabia has signed an exclusivity agreement to buy the 59-year-old’s stake in the club.
Elsewhere, global investment firm Sportsbank is looking to buy shares in Eagle Football Group, which is owned by Textor.
Crystal Palace prospective owners face Premier League scrutiny
Borson expects the Premier League to block any deal for the Palace shares if its conditions aren’t met.
He told Football Insider: “If I was a Palace fan, I wouldn’t get carried away that this is going to happen.
“Although it’s not clear what Sportsbank are trying to do, I think they are looking to put money into Eagle, not buy the Palace stake. I think somebody else is trying to buy the Palace stake.
“The thing that would give me comfort as a Palace fan that it’s not going to be a problem for Palace is that the Premier League has recently done a good job on the ownership test.
“If you look at what they did with the Everton and 777 situation, I would say that the Premier League prevented quite a bad situation for Everton. They did that by setting some conditions for the buyers.
“Ultimately, the buyers couldn’t hit those conditions, but they did Everton a favour by setting those conditions. That prevented the 777 deal happening in a way that would have been problematic, so I would think the same thing would happen for Palace.
“If these buyers have got the funds, then they will have to demonstrate to the Premier League that they have got the funds and they are the right people to buy the stake, and it will be fine.
“If not, then the deal won’t happen.”
In other news, Crystal Palace to open Will Hughes contract talks.
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