John Textor says he is actively looking to sell Eagle Football’s stake in Crystal Palace and is exploring the purchase of alternative English clubs, including Everton.
Textor’s Eagle Football owns a 45 per cent stake in Palace but he says he has now sought the help of investment banking firm Raine to find a suitable investor to purchase the group’s share in the club.
He is looking to sell after failing to take a majority shareholding in the club amid differing views over the multi-club model in particular, with Eagle Football owning majority stakes in Brazilian first division side Botafogo, Belgian side RWD Molenbeek and Ligue 1 club Lyon.
Textor said in a statement on Friday that although he is “extremely proud” of his time at the club, “an integrated sporting model, such as ours at Eagle, is simply not a perfect fit for Crystal Palace”.
He added: “Based on early reaction to the process we have begun with Raine Group, it’s obvious that the momentum at Crystal Palace has not gone unnoticed. I feel extremely confident that a good number of prospective partners will jump at the chance to be a part of this promising future.”
Should that process be completed in time then he will look to purchase another English club, with Textor saying he has begun preliminary discussions over a potential deal with Everton.
777 Partners have been given until the end of May to complete a deal for the Merseyside club after agreeing to purchase owner Farhad Moshiri’s 94 per cent stake back in September.
On Thursday, Moshiri confirmed to the Everton fan advisory board that he has received “unsolicited approaches from other parties” interested in buying the club, with 777’s bid on the verge of collapse.
“Yes (I’ve had conversations around buying Everton),” Textor told The Athletic. “With the existing constituents – different groups, different lenders, different equity holders.
“I’ve asked them ‘is there a way to solve all this confusion and address everyone’s problems?’ I’m very open-minded to it but I don’t want to come into a situation where I’m not really welcome.
“I’m watching it but 777 still has a contract. There are people that are close to the club who care a lot about it who are also investing.
“There’s the guy running it (Moshiri) who’s still calling the shots. Maybe we’re uniquely positioned to solve a lot of problems for people but we’re just watching it right now because there are other people who already own pieces of that club who also want to figure it out. I’m looking at that but it’s quite confusing and some things have to clean up.”
Moshiri confirmed to Everton’s fan advisory board that he has received alternative proposals to 777’s bid (Photo by Ian Hodgson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Before he can make any formal approach to Everton through Eagle, the group must first sell its share in Palace as Premier League rules forbid ownership of two clubs in the same division.
“Everton represents the best of English football: the struggles, the glory, the want. I love that it’s out of London. Everybody should want to buy Everton right now,” he said.
“That kind of club is what I’m referring to, where the risk and the reward of your relationship and community is so great and you could come in, make promises and keep them. How great would it be to take one of these great English clubs back to sort of glory?
“We’re also looking at other opportunities and we don’t need to jump right out of Palace right into something. That’d be a mistake.
“I suspect that the problem with Everton is it won’t be available by the time we would be ready for it. You can’t own two clubs in one league and we’re not going to rush the situation at Palace, no matter how good another opportunity looks.”
Everton declined to comment when commented by The Athletic.
Palace are run by four general partners — chairman Steve Parish, Textor and fellow U.S. businessmen Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
In 2015 Harris and Blitzer each purchased an 18 per cent stake in the club to join Parish. Six years later, Textor became the fourth general partner when he took a 40 per cent stake after investing £87.5million.
He injected a further £30m ($38.5m) into the club last year to increase his shareholding by a further five per cent.
With Parish effectively the sole decision-maker at the club, Textor has grown frustrated over his lack of control, although he says the relationship is “civil”.
He previously hinted at being forced into a decision either to launch an offer to take over the club or sell his stake, but with no clear route to purchasing a majority in the club, he is now seeking to sell Eagle’s shareholding.
Textor told The Athletic last year he would look to sell if he was unable to take a more active role in the running of Palace.
He said at the time: “Either we’re invited to take greater leadership over time or we’ll want to deploy our capital elsewhere. Because we think it’s important to have a UK partner that is as collaborative with our other clubs as they are today.”
Additional reporting: Patrick Boyland
John Textor’s statement to ‘supporters of Crystal Palace football club’
Eagle Football Holdings today announced its engagement of Raine Group to solicit and interview prospective buyers of Eagle Football’s interest in Crystal Palace Football Club.
I am extremely proud of our contribution to Crystal Palace…and am overjoyed with the improved form and heightened ambitions of the club. As a lover of pure football, at the academy level, I am also delighted to have been able to support Steve Parish’s vision for the completion of the Palace academy.
The academy is so important to the future of South London and to the club. I am also proud to have supported the multi-year transformation of the squad, invited by Dougie and Steve to share ideas as this current squad was built, player by player.
Finally, in this last year, I was pleased to see total unity in ownership as we transitioned in coaching leadership that brought a new style of play that fits perfectly with the power and pace that we are known for at Palace.
So, why would we sell, just when things are getting so good? Well, Eagle Football is known to employ a highly integrated sporting model across its football clubs, with an unprecedented amount of scouting collaboration and player movement within the family of clubs.
Our model of collaboration has led to considerable turn-around success at Olympique Lyonnais in France, where we quickly have returned to Europa League competition, and at Botafogo in Brazil, where we have resurrected a historic club from bankruptcy in the 2nd division to fight for championships at the top of Serie A.
We are also excited about our work-in-progress in Belgium, which resulted in a quick championship and historic promotion in our first year, which we must fight again to reclaim next year.
As proud as we are to have been a part of the resurgence of Crystal Palace, it remains true that Crystal Palace is an independent club, run by a man with a steady hand, who has achieved a level of sustainability that is incredibly uncommon in today’s Premier League. An integrated sporting model, such as ours at Eagle, is simply not a perfect fit for Crystal Palace.
Simply based on early reaction to the process we have begun with Raine Group, it’s obvious that the momentum at Crystal Palace has not gone unnoticed. I feel extremely confident that a good number of prospective partners will jump at the chance to be a part of this promising future.
Of course, these processes do take time, however we believe the summer of 2024 is the right time to run such a process, with a goal to identify a successful bidder and future Palace supporter before our focus returns to football games in the Fall.
We will keep you posted. Until then, Up the Palace!
(Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
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