The Franklin Group buys Premier League side Everton

U.S. company The Franklin Group completed the purchase of Premier League club Everton FC after a period of negotiations with already former owner Farhad Moshiri, an Iranian businessman. The acquisition deal is valued at around $490 million (£400 million).

The Premier League was the first to give the go-ahead and make this transaction official. The new owner will take 98.8% of Everton's shares.

"Everton Football Club has been acquired by Roundhouse Capital Holdings Limited (Roundhouse), an entity belonging to The Friedkin Group (TFG). The transaction was completed following an agreement between Farhad Moshiri's Blue Heaven Holdings (BHH) and Roundhouse for the sale of BHH's majority stake in the club," Everton FC said in a communiqué.

For his part, Marc Watts, the new executive chairman of the Toffees, assured that the aim is to return "this iconic soccer club" to "an exciting new era both on and off the pitch." He also said another purpose is to "provide immediate financial stability."

Everton FC is one of England's most iconic teams. A native of the city of Liverpool and founded in 1878, the institution has won nine Premier League titles (the last in the 1986-1987 season), five FA Cups and nine Community Shields. On a continental scale, it won the European Cup Winners' Cup in the 1984-1985 season.

United States stops the Middle East

The entry of The Franklin Group - which also owns Italy's AS Roma - into the Premier League halts the trend of recent times in which numerous entities from the Middle East have acquired prominent English teams.

Some of these cases are Manchester City (United Arab Emirates) or Newcastle (Saudi Arabia). Everton FC thus becomes the tenth team owned by a U.S. company.