Iranian-born British citizen Farhad Moshiri, who is resident in Monaco, has agreed to take a 49.9 per cent stake at Everton. Until Friday he was a significant shareholder in Arsenal.
Moshiri, who made a fortune of £1 billion through investments had been a co-investor in Red and White Holdings who own 30 per cent of Arsenal. He sold his stake to partner Alisher Usmanov for £150m to fund buying into Everton. His investment values the club at £175m. It is expected that he will eventually complete a takeover.
Iranian-born British citizen Farhad Moshiri, who is resident in Monaco, has agreed to take a 49.9 per cent stake at Everton. Until Friday he was a significant shareholder in Arsenal.
Moshiri, who made a fortune of £1 billion through investments had been a co-investor in Red and White Holdings who own 30 per cent of Arsenal. He sold his stake to partner Alisher Usmanov for £150m to fund buying into Everton. His investment values the club at £175m. It is expected that he will eventually complete a takeover.
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright is retaining some shares, but selling most of his stake. Other main investors at the club will also significantly reduce their stake.
Americans Jay Moores and Charles Noell were thought to be favourites to takeover the club. Consortiums from China and the Far East were also interested. However, one stumbling block was the cost of the much needed replacement of Goodison Park, estimated at £200m.
It has been suggested that Moshiri’s bid benefitted from his willingness to retain Kenwright as chairman. A factor in his emergence was his relationship with David Dein, the former Arsenal vice-chairman, who is a close friend of Kenwright. To judge from comments on social media, many Everton fans would like to get rid of Kenwright.
Under his stewardship, the club has been very successful at player trading, buying cheaply and selling at a profit. However, the failure to make progress on the stadium issue, when many other top clubs have moved or are redeveloping, is a big minus.