Dan Friedkin
(Credit: Imago)
Dan Plumley
Tue 18 March 2025 18:10, UK
Everton shareholders have raised concerns after the value of their shares plummeted after the takeover by The Friedkin Group.
One of the Friedkins’ first acts after coming into power at Everton was to issue 1,336,537 new shares worth £174.66 each and totalling £233.44million via their acquisition vehicle, Roundhouse Capital Holdings Ltd.
However, this had a negative impact on the remaining shareholders at Goodison Park, who saw a “dramatic collapse” in the value of their shares, considering £3,400 as recently as November 2024.
Everton buyer Dan Friedkin
Dan Friedkin bought Everton from Farhad Moshiri
Friedkins defended against shareholder criticism
This led to the minority shareholders asking questions of the Friedkins, with even a meeting with Everton’s directors scheduled in January as a result, although the owners refused to meet them themselves.
Therefore, this has become the first major black mark in the Friedkins’ ownership of the Goodison Park outfit, who have otherwise experienced a surge under them.
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Dan Plumley, though, has dismissed the issue as a negative spin on the topic as opposed to the outright truth, explaining that no party can change the number or value of shares on a whim.
The football finance expert is also of the view that the said shareholders would have also had the time and resources to anticipate the impact of the changes.
“That’s certainly been the spin of what I’ve seen. I think again you often need to dig a little bit deeper”, Plumley exclusively told Goodison News.
“What has been in the messaging is around the increase in the number of shares, which has been defined as arbitrary a little bit. That’s not necessarily quite telling the full picture because no real share issue and number of shares is ever arbitrary, it’s based on the calculations of the value of the club at the time of the takeover.
“It would have been impacted on by the level of debt that was hanging over from the Moshiri reign as well. So, it’s not as easy as saying they just arrived and increased their number of shares on an arbitrary basis.
“It will be factored into what they perceive to be the value of the club and then the value per share price, and that’s kind of standard practice in the corporate world. I would also imagine that behind the scenes that due diligence for those single shareholders, they would have been made aware of that or could at least have run some sort of calculations in their own mind as well.
Angus Kinnear is set to be appointed as the CEO. (Credit: Imago)
Everton shareholders to benefit in long run
“I guess that’s a kind of risk and reward thing with buying shares anyway, you know they can go up, you know they can go down, so I think there’s a bigger picture to this that the headlines are perhaps not quite covering in terms how that number of shares have been increased.
“And I think the spin therefore has been quite negative in respect of them not meeting with the minority shareholders. They want to talk to the owners, but they have had a kind of meeting with a club as we’re led to believe as well, so it’s a really delicate balance because you always want to keep your shareholders happy, but ultimately in that kind of real-world market scenario, the value of shares can go up and down.
“I’m sure also a lot of them will be probably keeping those minority shares for emotional reasons as well, but also with a view to perhaps them picking up in the long run as well if the club is successful.
“So, it’s a really tricky one this, and I appreciate the negative spin on the headline, but I think there’s a lot more underneath the surface than that we should be considering.”
Everton shares November 2024 March 2025
Number of shares 135,000 >1.6 million
Value £3,400 £175
Estimates via The Times (3 March)
Plumley also pointed out that the minority shareholders could see the value of their shares go up once again, especially if Everton attain success under the Friedkins.
“We’re not talking about shares here that are listed on the stock market, it’s a very private agreement, it’s a minority share offering those accounts to something like less than five per cent, isn’t it, and that value is actually reduced a little bit as well“, he added.
“So, it’s what you’re in it for, I guess. I’m sure some of them will be emotional investments and nothing more than that, but again, kind of moving forward, you would hopefully be looking at from a financial point of view, that the value of those shares in time will increase if things are successful on and off the pitch with The Friedkin Group.
“*We’re kind of looking at it at the moment right now, but you’ve got the kind of historical picture and then the forward-looking picture as well.*“
Apart from that, Everton are doing well under the ownership of The Friedkin Group so far, with David Moyes steering the team clear of the relegation zone.
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