Struggling Premier League club Everton have been offered a £150m loan by a private equity firm to help in the completion of their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.
The Merseyside club’s owner Farhad Moshiri has been trying to sell the club to American firm 777 Partners but the deal has stalled.
It has left the future of the 52,888 capacity new build facing questions over its competition date. Everton are set to make the transfer before the 2025-26 campaign.
Costs have spiralled from around £500m to an estimated £800m.
But New York-based GDA Luma Capital has reportedly offered a sum of up to £150m to help finish the stadium.
777 Partners deal close?
BBC Sport reports that it is a “straightforward loan and there is no trigger for equity in the club”. Everton declined to comment on those reports.
777 Partners were looking to acquire Moshiri’s 94 per cent stake in the Toffees but have faced obstacles.
Moshiri this week extended the agreement with 777 Partners until the end of the month to help them in getting the deal over the line.
Earlier this week Premier League chief Richard Masters said the English top flight is clear on what conditions 777 Partners need to meet to complete their purchase from British-Iranian Moshiri.
“Let me be clear about the Premier League’s role as regulator: it is to perform this test,” he said. “It’s not to decide who the current owner wants to sell the club to. That’s his [Moshiri] decision and at the moment he wants to continue to have discussions with 777 about it.
“The Premier League is very clear about the conditions that have to be met by 777 if it wishes to become owner of Everton. At the moment, because the takeover has not been confirmed, I’ll leave it to the committee [of MPs] to make its own conclusions as to where we are with that.”