Stefan Borson drops John Textor claim after Crystal Palace takeover latest
Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor has so far not provided any evidence to suggest he is close to selling his stake at Selhurst Park.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider all the reports around the American billionaire’s shares must be taken with a “big pinch of salt”.
Textor, who previously made an attempt to buy Everton, told Sky Sports on 12 September his Eagle Football Group was “into the final week or two of knowing who the buyer will be” for his 45 per cent stake in Palace.
But more than two months down the line, there has been no official update on where the sale process is currently at.
The Daily Mail reported on 31 October Sportsbank is understood to have made a bid in the region of £230million for Textor’s shares, valuing the south London club at around £500million.
Elsewhere, The Athletic reported on 5 November Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd is part of a consortium that has also made an offer to purchase the 59-year-old’s stake.
Crystal Palace minority owners will have limited power
But Borson doesn’t believe it makes any sense for a consortium to buy a minority stake in Palace as it would have almost no power.
He told Football Insider: “I just think you have to take everything on Textor’s Palace stake with a big pinch of salt.
“A number of things have been suggested in terms of being close to a deal and about the value of that deal, but we have not seen any evidence so far that it’s that close.
“A lot of the signs from Eagle Holdings, which is the parent company of the Palace stake and also Lyon, a lot of those are suggestions of really quite serious issues financially for Eagle Group.
“If you have got serious financial issues, it’s quite hard to have the leverage in the sale process to be able to hold yourself to be able to get the best price. That means the process can be fraught.
“It’s quite possible that there is a consortium of people that want to get involved in Palace, but the problem is, you’re getting a minority stake even if you’re successful.
“A consortium with a minority stake is going to have almost no power in this situation, so you just wonder why somebody would want to get involved in that when there are loads of clubs available in the Premier League and also outside of the Premier League.
“There are very few clubs that are not open to having a discussion, so why would you need to take a minority stake in Palace?
“Why is it such a unique opportunity given that situation, especially if the seller is trying to get quite a high price for their stake?”
In other news, Crystal Palace set sights on signing Championship sensation.
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