Everton suitor Textor to file plan for $2.3bn Eagle Football float

The leading contender to buy Everton Football Club is preparing to launch within days a plan to take his sports and technology holding company public at a valuation of over $2bn.

Sky News has learnt that John Textor, an American businessman, is to file documents with US regulators that will see Eagle Football Holdings become a US-listed company.

Banking sources said on Monday that Eagle Football had lined up Stifel and TD Cowen, the investment banks, to work on the initial public offering (IPO).

At least one other bank is likely to be appointed alongside them, the sources added.

Eagle Football, which owns a 45% stake in Everton’s fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace, is likely to seek around $500m (£379m) of new funding from investors as part of its IPO plan, according to bankers.

That would help Mr Textor achieve a valuation of around $2.3bn (£1.74bn), they said.

Eagle Football owns controlling stakes in clubs including France’s Olympique Lyonnais, Botafogo in Brazil, RW Molenbeek in Belgium and FC Florida.

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Its ownership of a minority stake in Crystal Palace means that despite Eagle Football being its largest individual shareholder, the club’s earnings are not consolidated within the company’s results.

Mr Textor is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Everton, which has endured a torrid start to the Premier League season with 3-0 and 4-0 defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

He had held earlier discussions about buying the Toffees, but the club’s complicated capital structure led to a breakdown in discussion with its majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri.

However, after talks with rival bidders including Daniel Friedkin, the owner of AS Roma in Italy, fell apart, Mr Textor reopened negotiations.

Sources said that he intended to buy Everton personally rather than through Eagle Football, although they added that it was conceivable that the English club could be absorbed into the broader holding company in future.

Mr Textor, a successful former imedia executive, is understood to have kicked off talks with prospective investors in Everton as part of his efforts to strengthen the club’s balance sheet.

He is said to have received interest from investors about injecting more than £150m into the club, according to banking sources.

One obstacle in the way of Mr Textor completing a takeover of Everton is the Premier League rules requiring the prior disposal of his stake in Crystal Palace.

Football insiders said he had received firm offers from two parties capable of executing a deal rapidly.

Their identities were unclear on Monday.

Raine Group, which handled the sale of Chelsea in 2022 and a minority stake in Manchester United to Sir Jim Ratcliffe late last year, is overseeing the disposal of Eagle Football’s Crystal Palace stake.

In the past, Mr Textor has spoken about his belief that public ownership of football teams provides fans with greater transparency about the running of their clubs.

He has described this as the democratisation of ownership – an issue likely to be at the heart of a bill on football regulation when it is reintroduced to parliament by the new Labour government.

Some clubs with listed shares, including Manchester United, have, however, endured a torrid relationship with supporters, partly as a result of their voting rights being controlled by a single dominant shareholder.

If Eagle Football’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission proceeds in the coming days, its stock is expected to begin trading in November.

Mr Textor could not be reached for comment.

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