Newcastle's owners have already found a nine-figure bargain after Everton debt bombshell

Ciaran Kelly

16 June 2024 at 0:48 pm·3-min read

Everton's mooted valuation looks 'very high' when you consider Newcastle United were sold for £305m.

That is the verdict of football finance expert Kieran Maguire after the Friedkin Group emerged as the frontrunners to buy the Toffees. Dan Friedkin, the billionaire who also owns Roma, wants to purchase Everton owner Farhad Moshiri's 94% stake and the American is moving closer to getting his wish after a consortium led by Vatche Manoukian withdrew from the process following their £400m all-equity offer last week.

That bid, alone, was £95m more than what the PIF, Amanda Staveley and Jamie Reuben paid to take over debt-free Newcastle back in 2021. In fact, the consortium's successful bid was little more than double the club's revenue in the final accounts of the Ashley era whereas some Premier League sides have commanded valuations of between five and seven times' turnover in the years since. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, for instance, had to pay £1.3bn to just to buy a 27.7% stake in Manchester United earlier this year while Chelsea's owners had to cough up a whopping £4.25bn to purchase the club in 2022.

It is worth noting that Newcastle's owners have had to subsequently pump further sums into the club, following years of neglect, to cover everything from player costs to infrastructure improvements. However, after Newcastle's transformation from a club 'just ticking along' to one attempting to upset the established order, the Magpies' valuation has surged accordingly.

Forbes estimated that Newcastle were worth £636m in the respected business magazine's list of the most valuable clubs earlier this year. It looks set to take a lot more than that considerable figure to buy Everton and pay off the club's huge debts.

"If you take a look at Everton's accounts, they have borrowed large sums of money from corporates who are charging them large amounts of interest," Maguire told the Price of Football. "In terms of a £400m bid, nobody is able to give a correct explanation on what exactly this means.

"It's not a case of paying £400m for Everton. It's a bit like me saying, 'I'll buy your house off you. I'll give you £400,000' and you say, at the same time, 'You have to take over my mortgage.'

"When you're buying the club, the owner is potentially getting money or the club is potentially getting money and you're also inheriting all of the debts. We think that Rights & Media Funding, who are this very strange company based in Cheshire with zero employees, they're in for £200m. We think 777 are in for £200m. We've got MSP in for £158m.

"Moshiri? I think we've got to write off what's owed to him, but you're inheriting all of the debts of the club as well as this £400m. That would value Everton close to £1bn or more and, to me, that looks very high when you think Newcastle United went for £300m-plus three years ago."