Stefan Borson: Everton avoided ‘disaster’ as stunning 777 Partners update emerges
Everton fans were put through a drawn-out takeover process before The Friedkin Group (TFG) secured a deal to buy the club.
TFG, which is spearheaded by Dan Friedkin, purchased Everton from former owner Farhad Moshiri in December 2024.
There was a point when 777 Partners were in line to take over Everton after initially agreeing a deal with Moshiri.
However, the US investment firm was unable to get the deal over the line after failing to receive Premier League approval.
It has now emerged Josh Wander, who co-founded 777, has been charged with defrauding lenders and investors of more than $500million (£377m).
Everton benefited from 777 Partners funding
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider it would have been a “disaster” for Everton if 777 had taken over the club.
777 loaned around £200m to Everton during its attempts to buy the club, with TFG paying off those debts after taking over on Merseyside.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “It would have been a disaster for Everton.
“I mean, I don’t think there’s any question that actually in the end they came out really well from the situation bizarrely because they managed to use 777, who may well be an organisation that effectively was founded on fraud, we’ll have to wait and see.
“But they managed to use that organisation to effectively fund the whole of the sale process. I don’t know if there was any sort of great grand plan, but that’s just how it turned out.
“The only people that were funding them at that point were 777, the existing lenders and the existing shareholders, but only 777 were putting additional money in.”
TFG has been putting money into Everton to pay the bills in recent months following the club’s historic financial issues under Moshiri.
Premier League praised after Everton takeover decision
Borson insisted the Premier League handled 777’s takeover attempts well after blocking the deal from taking place.
“It worked out quite well for them in the end because 777 was repaid,” said Borson.
“The Premier League did a good job in terms of putting the conditions in place that 777 could not make and could not fulfill, and so that effectively blocked the transaction from going ahead.
“That was good from the Premier League’s perspective, but it kept the door open. It didn’t create the crisis that no cash would have created. It kept 777 working towards a deal.
“It maybe dragged the process out a little bit longer, but overall it was a good outcome for Everton. It ended up in the right hands and it could have been very bad because had 777 got hold of it, this situation would have come to a head at some point.”
Everton currently sit 14th in the Premier League table under David Moyes, but they are six points above the relegation zone.
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