Textor looking to acquire stake in Sheffield Wednesday following his work with former investment banker Keith Harris.
John Textor teams up with football financier in push to buy Sheffield Wednesday.
In an effort to purchase Sheffield Wednesday, John Textor has partnered with football billionaire Keith Harris. Former investment banker Harris has arranged takeovers at West Ham, Manchester City, and Aston Villa. Last year, he assembled a group to purchase Everton, but that attempt was unsuccessful.
Despite being given exclusivity, Textor was unable to complete his effort to purchase Everton through his investment entity, Eagle Football. Although the American and Harris were not working together, they became acquainted through the Englishman’s employment at Sportsbank, which last year made Textor an offer of £230 million to purchase 45% of Eagle. Prior to selling to Woody Johnson last month, the multiclub organisation was the largest shareholder at Crystal Palace and owned Lyon, Botafogo, and the Belgian team RWD Molenbeek.
That agreement was not finalised by Sportsbank, a consortium of US and UAE investors headed by Zechariah Janjua and Navshir Jaffer; instead, Textor chose to list Eagle on the New York Stock Exchange. Harris is collaborating with Textor to get finance elsewhere; Sportsbank is not participating in the bid for Wednesday.
Wednesday is in a dangerous position. Dejphon Chansiri, the owner, has been in negotiations with a number of possible purchasers this summer. In June, he announced that he had turned down a £40 million offer from an unidentified American company that has nothing to do with Textor. It is believed that Chansiri is seeking for more than £100 million.
After receiving a £2.7 million solidarity payment from the Premier League on Wednesday last week, the players’ salaries are now up to date even though they had been paid late in four of the previous five months. January is when the second installment is due.
The EFL will give Wednesday its monthly central allocation of £460,000 this week, but there are still short-term issues. Fans will have to relocate for Hillsborough’s first home game of the season against Stoke on Saturday unless repairs is completed in time, since the North Stand has not been given a safety certificate. Some players paid for their own hotel room prior to Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Leicester because money is so tight. As things stand, overnight stays will be rationed for the rest of the season, with day trips from Sheffield likely the norm when practical.