777 Partners Takeover

[American Evertonian]

Damming article on the Athletic

In trying to explain just how bad 777’s latest legal scrape is for the Miami-based investment firm, it is difficult to know where to start.

The complainant this time is London-based investment firm Leadenhall and the civil suit it has filed against 777 Partners, some of its portfolio companies, its co-owners Steven Pasko and Josh Wander, its close partner A-Cap and its boss Kenneth King runs to 82 pages. And there is a wounding zinger on each page.

But perhaps the easiest place to start is simply to say this must surely be the end of 777’s almost eight-month attempt to complete its purchase of Everton, and very possibly the end of 777, too.

The allegations are staggering, although to many they will not really come as a huge surprise.

After all, Leadenhall’s complaint, which was filed in a U.S. district court in New York on Friday, notes that 777 and its associated companies are already the subject of 16 different lawsuits over unpaid debts totalling more than $130million ($104m). Leadenhall, for what it is worth, says it is owed more than $600m by the group.

Wow, right? But Leadenhall says 777 and its affiliates owe A-Cap more than $2billion, not that it thinks A-Cap itself deserves any sympathy, as Leadenhall believes A-Cap is in on the scam.

The central allegation is that 777 and its associated companies set up a credit facility with Leadenhall in 2021 that was secured against assets that had to be “free and clear” of all other potential claims. And the unencumbered status of these assets had to be confirmed to Leadenhall by the group every month. This enabled the 777 group to borrow lots of money from Leadenhall, at a relatively low interest rate.

However, a combination of anonymous tip-offs, forensic accounting, conversations with other lenders and, even, admissions from 777’s main man Wander himself led Leadenhall to the conclusion that what was going on here was “a giant shell game, at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme, at worst”.

Instead of “free and clear”, most of 777’s collateral either did not exist or it was “double-pledged”. Oh, and the borrowers forged documents and faked records to hide its deception, Leadenhall claims.

The plan, as far as Leadenhall can fathom, was to funnel money, usually borrowed money, into “speculative bets” on airlines, payday lenders and football clubs, with Everton being the biggest and most important bet of all.

Everton is the latest shiny object of Wander’s fraudulent scheme, solvency aside,” the complaint says.

“Despite the fact that 777 Partners and many of the operating businesses and professional football teams that Wander owns are deep in debt, behind on their obligations, and on thin ice with regulators, Wander’s strategy has been continued expansion — using debt to acquire new assets that he can then use as collateral for more debt, which he then fails to timely pay off, in a seemingly never-ending cycle of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’.”

This “house of cards” was propped up, in “Whac-A-Mole fashion” by King’s A-Cap, which, contrary to 777’s agreement with Leadenhall, had overarching security over all of 777’s assets.

But, according to Leadenhall, King’s control over 777 goes even further than that. He is the “puppeteer to Wander’s marionette” and the “Wizard of Oz behind the 777 curtain”. It is A-Cap’s money which has bankrolled 777’s purchase of airlines and football clubs. It is A-Cap’s money that has been paying Everton’s bills.

And when we say A-Cap’s money, what we really mean is it is the insurance premiums of millions of regular Americans, everyday folk who have invested in healthcare and pension schemes, people who thought their money was going into gold-plated, copper-bottomed investments that would definitely be there for them if and when required.

Evertonians, do you agree with current owner Farhad Moshiri that this lot are the “best partners to take (your) great club forward”?

Obviously, this is just a civil suit. We are not yet at the criminal stage, and we may never get there. Wander and 777 have declined to comment but their usual line is they never comment on ongoing litigation.

A-Cap has not yet responded to a request for comment from The Athletic but in a statement to The New York Times it said the accusations are “sensational and unfounded”. “A-Cap, similar to Leadenhall Capital, serves as a lender to 777 — there are no ownership ties,” it said. “The key distinction lies in the fact that A-Cap holds senior rights to collateral associated with 777.”

But A-Cap has already been forced to try to untangle itself from 777, under pressure from its rating agency and state insurance regulators.

Good luck with that. Hope it goes well — if not for you but certainly for your customers, who did not sign up for this.

But can you conduct your experiments in financial engineering away from our football clubs, please? They are not moles to be whacked, Peters to be robbed or shells to play with.

It’s hard to see what 777 could say to answer these claims. But whatever happens, for Everton, the FA and the Premier League, surely this is now too much.

It has to be over. This must be the end.

[Audrey Horne]

Is there literally nothing we can do to get Moshiri grubby fucking greedy pathetic hands off the club??

[Cereal Killer]

Forget asking 777, Wander and A-Cap for comment, who’s asking the PL why these people are still deemed fit and proper as long as they cough up some cash??

[Escla]

Reading that article from the Athletic it is crystal clear that Moshiri did absolute fuck all due diligence before entering into an agreement with 777. The first stab at DD would have thrown up a dozen red flags.

[American Evertonian]

Reading that article from the Athletic it is crystal clear that Moshiri did absolute fuck all due diligence before entering into an agreement with 777. The first stab at DD would have thrown up a dozen red flags.

Seems like anyone who has ever entered into business with them hasn’t. Crazy that such a scummy company has ever been able to amass such a portfolio of companies

[Phillyt]

Forget asking 777, Wander and A-Cap for comment, who’s asking the PL why these people are still deemed fit and proper as long as they cough up some cash??

I’m guessing that without a conviction for fraud (or any other relevant points) they have no legal basis to disqualify them as owners. The PL have done what they can and attached fairly basic conditions to protect the short term future of the club on the event 777 do find the money. It’s down to moshiri to open his eyes and understand that them being the highest bidder doesn’t matter if they can’t get the cash. All he has done is effectively wipe around 200m off what he gets at the end. He needs to act now to stop it going any further.
My feeling is that with all the noise we are seeing that he is actually trying to do that and the club are actively briefing against 777 at this point.

[toffee_scot]

If only I could go back in time and stop Bill Kenwright from ever bumping into Mr Moshiri.

[777Kidnappings]

If only I could go back in time and stop Bill Kenwright from ever bumping into Mr Moshiri.

If you could kill kenwright as a baby would you

[CraigS...]

If you could kill kenwright as a baby would you

No I would pay The Liverpool team to go round to his house every Xmas and give him a new kit every year

[Gary1878]

Fucking hell. That article is utterly frightening.

100% the end for 777 but God knows what it means for us.

[CraigS...]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/e ... 169f7&ei=1


https://www.goodisonnews.com/2024/05/05 ... -partners/

[Cozzie]

The fella from the US office?

[eyesalwaysblue]

Is the Basketball guy on the way to save the day?

[toffee_scot]

If you could kill kenwright as a baby would you

No, I would convince him to buy Liverpool FC instead.

[Bluedylan1]

Lads, think of what the theatre would've lost without Kenwright. Have a heart.