Liverpool-born businessman Bernard Mullin, a life-long Everton fan, has approached a number of high profile individuals around the world to get them interested in buying Everton... but with little success. His search to put together a consortium, based on a brief prospectus that underscores Everton's investment needs, has thus far proved fruitless. A number of rumoured investments, both domestic and international, have failed to materialise.
Any formal process to sell Everton would most likely be handled by Keith Harris of Seymour Pierce, the investment banker hired by Mike Ashley to sell Newcastle United. However, sources said that Everton would engage with Mullin if he found a legitimate buyer.
Mullin has sent out a formal three-page document to potential buyers detailing Everton’s valuation and the amount of investment required at the club. He believes the holdings of Everton’s top three shareholders, which total 75 per cent, could be acquired for between £75 million and £100 million.
In addition, he has told prospective buyers that any renovation to Goodison Park is likely to require a minimum of £250 million investment to create a state-of-the-art 50,000 seat stadium.
He added that Everton’s debt, which stands at £44.9 million, is covered by the group’s property assets — which includes the stadium, offices, training ground and retail outlet.
With countless rumoured investments in Everton failing to materialise, sceptics have questioned whether Kenwright is serious in his intention to sell his stake. The roles of Robert Earl and Lord Grantchester, both shareholders at Goodison Park and men of sufficient wealth to offer substantial backing to Moyes, have also come under a degree of scrutiny.
From 2004 to 2008, Mullin was president and chief executive officer of Atlanta Spirit, which represented the ownership group for the Hawks, the Thrashers and Philips Arena. The US executive now runs US-based sports marketing firm The Aspire Group.
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