Everton in £200million takeover links

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The Mirror

Everton are the latest Premier League club to be the target of a multi-million-pound takeover.

Indian tycoon Anil Ambani, the sixth-richest man in the world with an estimated £20billion fortune, is determined to buy a Premier League club.

And Everton chairman Bill Kenwright is trying to interest the 49-year-old businessman and is having talks about a takeover at Goodison Park.

Ambani has already looked at Newcastle and Liverpool but his advisers steered him away from the mess at St James’ Park while Anfield’s American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks have fought off previous takeover bids. That has left Ambani seriously considering a deal for Everton - especially as Kenwright wants to step aside.

Kenwright has aleady entertained Ambani and his advisers at Goodison Park and now the tycoon is weighing up the figures.

Everton's future at Goodison is uncertain and the club's value is therefore affected, but Ambani has the millions to take over the club - and pump money into it.

Kenwright announced after the club's EGM earlier this month that he is ready to sell, which attracted interest from several consortiums.

Ambani, chairman of the financial company Reliance Group, made enquiries through an intermediary.
The talks have progressed slowly but Ambani remains interested in moving into English football and Everton are a big club in need of major financial investment.

Ambani is deeply interested but even if his talks do not progress, it seems certain that the club will fall into foreign hands with several brokers negotiating buy-outs.

Kenwright, a lifelong Everton fan, wants the club to be able to compete with the big four and to have the funds to either redevelop their stadium or move.

He said recently: "I do not want to be here next year.

"I do not want to be standing in front of you saying, 'It's been another tough season' and 'I don't know where the money is'. I would sell tomorrow."

Would be amzing news, however this is just reports at the moment. He has been linked with the club for a while now, and only time will tell. The club have refused to comment on the situation.

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Ambani's representitives have denied they are one of the 7 parties bidding for Newcastle. They haven't however commented on any move for Everton.

That in my opinion is a good omen, considering in the media Ambani was directly linked on the back page of a number of newspapers and media with Everton, however they haven't decided to release a statement regarding that.

I know it's a long shot, but my god this would be fantastic if true.

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Daily Mail

Everton will become the latest Premier League club to move into foreign ownership when a £200million sale to bidders from the Far or Middle East is completed, possibly in a matter of weeks.
Deals for Everton and Newcastle are being brokered by investment banker Keith Harris and both are now on the verge of receiving formal offers, which the clubs hope will allow negotiations to be completed before the transfer window opens in January.
In Everton's case there are two bidders, one from the Far East and one from the Middle East, believed to be a sovereign wealth fund similar to the Abu Dhabi United Group, who took over Manchester City last month in a £200m deal.
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright admitted at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders last month that he wanted to sell, sparking genuine interest from more than one overseas investor. Kenwright is keen for the deal to happen before January and will not ask to stay on in any significant capacity.
All the major shareholders have now agreed to sell, with a formal offer expected within weeks.
Manager David Moyes will sign a new contract with the club next week despite the impending change of ownership.
'I trust Bill to find the right person for this club,' said Moyes last night. 'He will make sure they are the right type, not just anyone throwing a few bob around.'

Sounds like a rival bid to ambani has arrived, in the form of a Sovereign wealth fund.... Very excititing times indeed could be ahead.

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The Times

Everton are expected to become the next Barclays Premier League club to fall under Arab ownership after it emerged that a Middle Eastern consortium is favourite to buy the club. An Indian investor is also understood to have registered an interest in the Merseyside club, but the more advanced bid is from an investment group in an Arab state that is preparing to make an official bid within the next fortnight.

Bill Kenwright, the Everton chairman, has been looking for outside investment for the past three years, conscious he does not have the wealth to enable his club to compete at the top end of the transfer market and he is confident his search is close to fruition.

Kenwright is being advised by Keith Harris, the leading football financier, who sat alongside him at Goodison Park yesterday when Everton drew 2-2 with Newcastle United. The Tyneside club have also enlisted Harris’s services as Mike Ashley, their chairman, looks to offload his stake as soon as possible. Ashley is determined to find a buyer for Newcastle as a matter of urgency, but the Everton takeover is being handled more cautiously, with Kenwright eager to find the right individual or group of individuals to take the club forward.

A number of conference calls have been held with representatives of potential investors, with Sir Philip Green, the billionaire British businessman, also offering Kenwright advice, as he has done on an increasingly regular, although informal, basis in recent months.

Reports yesterday suggested that Kenwright hoped to have a deal completed by the new year, allowing David Moyes, the Everton manager, significant funds to strengthen his squad during the January transfer window. However, the expectation at Goodison Park is that a deal could go through next month, if discussions continue to progress as they have done.

In the meantime, Moyes is close to signing a new long-term contract, with his future unaffected by the expected change in ownership.

From what I've been reading it seems to Arab group is the Qatar wealth fund. Please god make this be true.