Dan Plumley says any corporate lawyer “worth their salt” will be advising John Textor to proceed with caution in his attempt to buy Everton,
It was reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein on Thursday (15 August) that Textor has signed paperwork with Farhad Moshiri for a period of exclusivity as he attempts to secure a deal.
A source close to the deal previously told Goodison News that he will need to sell his 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace to complete a takeover.
With two deals in the form of 777 Partners and the Friedkin Group having already failed to come to fruition there is still plenty of work to be done, and Plumley told Goodison News there will be plenty of due diligence being done.
He said: “Any sort of corporate lawyer worth their salt will be advising in that way (to act with caution).
“You have to look at every single little detail and the lawyers will be looking at that and if you are a potential buyer, as we saw with the Friedkin Group situation, you find something that doesn’t seem quite right and you pull the plug and it’s that kind of situation that becomes really important when you’re looking at doing the due diligence because you don’t want to get caught out.
This is where really, really good lawyers earn their keep and certainly any one of them will be advising in that way with a note of caution linked to that area.”
Everton takeover issue far from solved
After what felt like an agonising lull period following the collapse of the Friedkin Group takeover, there has at least been a glimmer of home for Everton supporters in the past 24 hours.
Textor has long-since been linked with an interest in buying out Moshiri’s 94.1 per cent stake in the club and he the update today shows he remains keen to explore the possibility of a takeover.
Of course, there is the added complication of his 45 per cent stake of Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, a stake that will need to be sold if he is to complete a deal at Goodison Park.
But, at least things appear to be on the move again. The silence after the Friedkin news was deafening and has cast a bit of a shadow ahead of the return of the Premier League this weekend when the Toffees host Brighton at Goodison Park on Saturday (17 August).
