(Bloomberg) -- Aliya Capital Partners is backing US investor John Textor’s bid to acquire Everton FC, the historic English football club that’s struggling to find a buyer.
“We are delighted to support John Textor in his investment in Everton Football Club,” the Miami-based investment manager, which committed to supporting Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter two years ago, said in a statement.
The move comes as Textor, an investor in multiple football clubs around the world, seeks to secure the financing required to push through a takeover of the English Premier League team.
Earlier this summer, Aliya offered its investors the chance to commit around $25 million to backing a deal for Everton, according to a pitch document reviewed by Bloomberg News. As part of any transaction, Aliya will get a co-chairman position and one board seat at Everton.
Textor is the latest bidder to emerge for Everton, whose owner Farhad Moshiri has been having difficulties finding a buyer. The club is weighed down by more than £500 million ($656 million) of debt, largely due to construction costs for a new stadium being built at Bramley Dock in Liverpool.
Separate potential sales to US investment firm 777 Partners LLC and Dan Friedkin, the owner of Italy’s AS Roma, collapsed earlier this year. Everton said this week that progress is being made on a potential sale to Textor but “there remains some work to be done to complete the transaction.”
Aliya has given its investors the option of holding Everton shares for the long term or converting them into stock in Eagle Football Holdings LLC, an investment vehicle owned by Textor, in the event it goes public. Any conversion guaranteed a minimum 3X return, the document shows.
“Our involvement in Everton reflects our shared commitment to innovation and transformation in football,” Aliya said in its statement. “We eagerly anticipate Everton’s ascent under John’s visionary leadership.”
Eagle Football holds shares in a number of football clubs around the world, including Crystal Palace FC — another Premier League team. While Textor isn’t bidding for Everton through Eagle Football, Premier League ownership rules mean he would still need to dispose of his stake in Crystal Palace before buying a rival club.
“There is no way to get the lender of Eagle to blend with the multiple lenders of Everton,” Textor said on why he was not bidding through Eagle Football.
Everton was among the founding members of the English Football League in the 1880s and is one of just a handful of teams that’s never been relegated from the Premier League. But it’s narrowly avoided dropping out of the top division in recent seasons despite heavy investment from Moshiri.
Entrepreneur Alexander Bafer is also ready to back Textor’s bid for Everton. “If it goes forward, I’m on board with John,” Bafer said.
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