Peter Kenyon has held further talks about buying Everton, with his consortium granted a period of exclusivity to discuss a deal with the present owner, Farhad Moshiri.
Kenyon, the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive, is fronting a bid for a group of American businessmen including Maciek Kaminski, who is believed to have flown to England, and John Thornton.
Other parties are interested in acquiring the shares of Moshiri, who bought Everton in February 2016 but is now prepared to sell. A period of exclusivity for the Kenyon-consortium is significant as it shows they are serious about buying the club, and is an act of good faith from Moshiri, who has not given the same encouragement to some of the other parties thus far.
The Kenyon-led consortium will now study Everton’s accounts to ascertain a full picture of the club’s finances. Grant Ingles, Everton’s finance director, and other club officials are set to be involved in the discussions.
The biggest stumbling block to the sale of the club remains Moshiri’s valuation, given Everton are also in a process of building a new £500 million stadium at Bramley-Moore dock, which still requires funding.
Any new owners would have to continue to fund losses in the short term because Everton’s expenditure is still greater than their income, while the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules mean constraints on squad spending would also apply.
Kenyon’s company, Opto Advisers, has been advising prospective owners and clubs for a number of years and the 68-year-old is likely to take on a role in any new ownership structure.
Kaminski is the chief executive of Minneapolis company Talon Real Estate and businessman Thornton, a former co-president of Goldman Sachs, is the executive chairman of Barrick Gold, one of the world’s largest mining companies.
The consortium is being advised by investment specialist Michael Klein, who was an adviser to the Sir Martin Broughton-fronted bid which lost out to Todd Boehly in the battle to buy Chelsea.
