Everton on verge of £200m takeover

Should the sale of the club go ahead it will be the second time in as many months American investors have put money into a Premier League club, after the chairman of National Basketball Association side Philadelphia 76ers, Joshua Harris, and David Blitzer bought a 36 per cent stake in Crystal Palace.

Bill Kenwright has owned Everton for 16 years but he has been searching for new investment.

Two businessmen John J Moores and Charles Noell are leading a group of investors from both sides of the Atlantic who are understood to have been granted a six week period of exclusivity.

Everton are yet to confirm reports the club could be sold to an American-led consortium for around £200m. Estimations put the Texan as being personally worth 730 million USA dollars a decade ago, but his value is believed to have significantly grown. As clubs have been sold, for a mix of reasons – English shareholders wanting to cash in, grounds and squads needing investment – principal interest has come from the United States, where there are acquisitive financiers and a culture of buying sports teams as investments.

If Moores and Noell are able to finalize a deal, they will be the latest owners to get themselves a piece of the Premiership action, with a club full of talent that now stands in the top-half of the Premier League table.

Noell first became involved with Moores 1992, when he set-up JMI Equity – a firm which invests in software and healthcare IT companies – Moores provided funding for the venture.

He once owned the San Diego Padres baseball franchise, buying it off current Liverpool chairman Tom Werner, before selling in 2012.