Roma owner Dan Friedkin emerges as strong favourite to buy Everton -

The Friedkin Group, the Texas-based owner of Italian side AS Roma, has emerged as the strong favourite to buy Everton.

The company’s chairman and CEO Dan Friedkin, 59, will now decide whether to proceed and purchase current owner Farhad Moshiri’s 94 per cent stake in the club.

A decision on whether to complete the deal is expected to be made in the next 24 hours.

Any deal — subject to Premier League approval — would end months of speculation about the club’s future and comes only two weeks after a proposed takeover by Miami-based private investment firm 777 Partners collapsed.

The Friedkin Group acquired control of Serie A side Roma in 2020 in an acquisition worth an estimated $700 million (£553m at current exchange rate).

Under Friedkin’s ownership, Roma won the Europa Conference League in 2022, with Jose Mourinho as manager, but lost in the final of the Europa League a year later.

Forbes estimates Friedkin’s net worth to be $6.2 billion (£4.9bn). His studio produced ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, the Oscar-nominated picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. Their 2020 film ‘Parasite’ won six Academy Awards.

The Athletic reported earlier this month that 777 Partners’ proposed takeover had fallen through following the expiry of a purchase agreement.

It meant that Everton were free to engage with other potential investors, having stated they will “assess all options for the club’s future ownership”.

In a recent interview with The Athletic, American businessman John Textor expressed interest in selling Eagle Football’s stake in Crystal Palace and exploring the purchase of other English clubs, including Everton.

Last month, Moshiri informed the Everton fan advisory board that he had received “unsolicited” approaches from other parties interested in buying the club. Interim CEO Colin Chong confirmed that Everton had contingency plans in place should 777’s takeover fall through.

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Everton’s majority shareholder Moshiri, through Blue Heaven Holdings Limited, had reached an agreement with 777 in September to sell his 94.1 per cent stake.

The transaction was expected to be finalised by the end of 2023, but the takeover was repeatedly delayed due to 777’s inability to meet all the Premier League’s conditions for the purchase.

Moshiri bought Everton in 2016 but has overseen a decline in performance both on and off the pitch. After U.S. investors MSP Sports Capital withdrew from talks about taking a minority stake last August, Moshiri announced in September that he had signed an agreement with 777 to sell his shareholding.

However, the takeover has faced persistent delays, partly due to the Premier League’s condition that a £160million ($203.8m) loan, advanced to the club by MSP Sports Capital in April, be repaid. In April, 777 was granted an extension by MSP after requesting more time to secure the necessary financing.

In May, the Premier League indicated it would approve the takeover if certain conditions were met. These conditions included converting loans to the club, now totalling around £200m ($255m), into equity, and providing proof of funding for the completion of Everton’s new stadium. These loans, in the form of junior, unsecured debt, were used to cover daily operating costs and new stadium expenses.

Everton posted losses of nearly £400 million ($509.6 million) between 2019 and 2023, leading to two breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and resulting in a total deduction of eight points.