Everton considers sale in test of football’s inflated valuations

THE Friedkin Group is considering selling a controlling interest in Everton Football Club less than two years after acquiring the Premier League club, in a move that will test investor appetite for increasingly costly football assets.

The US group, which has retained investment bank Moelis & Company, said on Friday (Oct 9) that Everton had been stabilised financially and the completion of the club’s new stadium meant it was appropriate to consider its “next chapter”.

The Friedkin Group took control in late 2024 after a prolonged period of financial uncertainty under former owner Farhad Moshiri.

Since then, the group has refinanced liabilities and helped complete Everton’s move to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, giving prospective investors a modern venue with greater match-day and commercial potential.

Securing competitiveness would demand significant additional capital from any prospective owner to bolster the playing squad.

Negotiations could be complicated by valuation expectations that have become increasingly detached from the economics of many clubs.

Owners across European football have taken encouragement from the record-setting sale of a minority stake in rival Liverpool FC, where a consortium led by Amit Bhatia and backed by investors including Jeff Bezos and Eduardo Saverin agreed to buy more than 30 per cent at a valuation exceeding US$6 billion. 

The Liverpool deal established a new high-water mark for a football minority investment and has skewed some sellers’ expectations of what their own clubs should command, said a number of sports deals advisers working on current sales. 

Everton is worth roughly £720 million (US$951.9 million) based on figures from the latest accounts, according to analysis by football adviser Tom Markham.

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The Friedkin Group might have to inject more than £400 million into the club just to keep it competitive, said Paul Quinn, an independent researcher and blogger on football finances.

The challenges facing a potential investment in Tottenham Hotspur highlight the struggle around a fair value for a football club. A transaction for Eight Sports Capital to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in Enic, Tottenham’s controlling shareholder, has stalled.

Like Everton, London-based Tottenham has a state-of-the-art stadium and robust commercial revenues, but longstanding disagreements over the club’s valuation have scuppered potential deals, especially when buyers acquire non-controlling minority stakes. 

The Friedkin Group is one of the world’s largest independent Toyota distributors and owns a collection of award-winning luxury resorts, its website shows.

CEO Dan Friedkin himself pilots planes as a hobby. He bought Italian club Roma in 2020, and in 2022 they won the Europa Conference League under then-head coach Jose Mourinho. 

Bloomberg previously reported that The Friedkin Group has hired Moelis to work on investment options. BLOOMBERG