Crystal Palace Football Club is up for sale.
Or, at least, a considerable chunk of the equity in the club is for sale, according to a report in the Financial Times, which states that co-owner John Textor, the American businessman, wants to sell his 40% stake.
Textor wants instead to buy a significant bit of Everton: “Everton represents the best of English football. How great would it be to take one of these great English clubs back to sort of glory?” Textor was reported to say yesterday.
In puts Palace in the mix of end-of-season turmoil and transition alongside a number of other Premier League clubs, with a managerial merry-go-round also spinning faster than ever before. And all after the Eagles under new boss Oliver Glasner enjoyed a flying final few weeks to finish 10th in the table, with four of the club’s exciting young players named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for next month’s European championship.
Textor’s decision to move on comes just as work on the long-delayed scheme to build the £150million new stand is due to begin.
Palace fans right again: banners at Selhurst Park last year, when Textor was buying Lyon
His latest comments will hardly endear him to Palace fans. Textor’s ownership of the Selhurst Park club has at times attracted controversy and criticism from fans which, given the latest developments, appears to have been well-founded concerns.
Textor and club chairman Steve Parish were barely on talking terms just over a year ago, after the American paid £800million to add the French club Olympique Lyonnais to his Eagle Football portfolio that also includes stakes the Brazilian side Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek in Belgium.
Parish initially refused to allow Textor to switch his shares in Palace to Eagle Football Holdings. That was required for the Premier League to approve his takeover, with regulations stipulating that if an owner wants to acquire a significant interest in a foreign club, they are obliged to notify the league through a “dual interest notice”.
Tech entrepreneur Textor bought roughly 40% of Crystal Palace in 2021 for £90million, joining Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Blackstone executive David Blitzer and Parish on the four-man board of directors.
Eyeing Everton: John Textor
Although Eagle Football is the largest single shareholder in Palace, Textor has equal voting rights with the club’s other directors.
Textor has hired merchant bank Raine Group to manage the sale of his stake in Palace. “Textor said that while he was ‘extremely proud’ of his part in helping Palace achieve ‘a level of sustainability that is incredibly uncommon in today’s Premier League’, his vision for running a multi-club network was not aligned with the club’s goals,” the FT reports.
“Crystal Palace is an independent club,” Textor said. “An integrated sporting model, such as ours at Eagle, is simply not a perfect fit.”
Tottenham, West Ham and Brentford are also all seeking new investors, not long after the Glazers sold 27% in Manchester United and Chelsea was bought by American investors for £2.5billion. Merchant bankers Raine advised on the Chelsea, Lyon and United deals.
Everton’s takeover by 777 Partners continues to develop in the face of fan pressure for owner Farhad Moshiri to seek alternative buyers.
Asked if he had held talks about buying Everton, Textor told The Athletic: “Yes. With the existing constituents – different groups, different lenders, different equity holders.
“I’ve asked them ‘Is there a way to solve all this confusion and address everyone’s problems?’
“I’m very open-minded to it but I don’t want to come into a situation where I’m not really welcome.
“I’m watching it but 777 still has a contract. There are people that are close to the club who care a lot about it who are also investing. There’s the guy running it who’s still calling the shots. Maybe we’re uniquely positioned to solve a lot of problems for people but we’re just watching it right now because there are other people who already own pieces of that club who also want to figure it out.
“I’m looking at that but it’s quite confusing and some things have to clean up.”
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