Farhad Moshiri facing huge £300MILLION financial black hole if he sells Everton after years of failed transfer spending
FARHAD MOSHIRI is staring at a financial black hole that could cost him as much as £300MILLION if he sells Everton.
That stunning figure of failure would represent almost a quarter of the 67-year-old’s fortune after seven years of failed spending during his reign as the club’s majority owner.
Moshiri claimed last week that he is not planning to cash out but SunSport understands he made it clear almost a year ago to potential investors that he would go for the right price.
And we can reveal that price after being made aware of documents listing details that are in circulation.
Moshiri is understood to want £350m for the club — plus the clearance of one of the club’s loans, totalling £150m.
What’s more the new buyer would have to come up with a further £300m to complete the construction of Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock.
Moshiri bought his 94 per cent stake in the Toffees for £200m.
It was thought that he had also given £250m in loans but SunSport believes the club currently owe him £100m more.
So his total investment amounts to £550m but by selling he would recoup only a maximum of £350m — £250m if they are relegated.
Dropping a division means he would stare at a loss of £300m for walking away and not calling in the personal loans.
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The investment of a new owner could be much higher still because it is based on a supposed “lock-in” build price of £500m that was thought to be in place with the builders, Laing O’Rourke.
Yet Moshiri — a chartered accountant — suggested somebody within his beleaguered board had their sums wrong.
The stadium set-price was announced nine months ago, CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale claiming: “We are able to lock in construction costs, while also benefiting from Laing O’Rourke’s economies of scale in what is an ever-fluctuating marketplace.”
Yet in the days before Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by West Ham that marked the end of Frank Lampard’s reign, the beleaguered supremo told talkSPORT the final price would be close to £760m.
So far it is understood that only £200m has been invested in the 52,888-seater ground.
Moshiri has been searching in vain for new investors for months and now knows that if the club is sold he will take the biggest personal hit of any club owner in the Premier League era.
Last week he told Everton’s Fan Advisory Board: “The club is not for sale, I’ve been talking to top investors of real quality to bridge the gap on the stadium.”
Yet as he scratches around for a new manager, he is still to find any major money men willing to help fund a club that has lost £372m in the last three years.