2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Dave Powell)
A-CAP had been the source of funds for the now-collapsed 777 Partners investment firm One of the investment firms at the centre of the long-doomed bid for Everton by 777 Partners has been handed a court defeat in Italy. A-CAP had been mooted as a potential bidder for Everton up until last summer. The Miami-based firm had been a major creditor of the now collapsed 777 Partners, the investment fund that had come close to acquiring Everton and that had loaned the club some £200m in funding for working capital requirements during a lengthy takeover bid that would ultimately end in failure.
Among the football assets that had been part of the 777 Partners portfolio were Standard Liege, Genoa, Vasco da Gama, Melbourne Victory and Red Star Paris, with investment bank Moelis having been independently instructed to find buyers for the clubs as A-CAP took control of 777 assets and were forced into a fire sale to recoup some funds. One of the main clubs it owned, Genoa, have recently been the subject of a €45m (£38.5m) takeover bid from Romanian businessman Dan Sucu.
The sum was less than had been anticipated for Genoa, and A-CAP attempted to halt a sale to Sucu, with a legal case in The Court of Genoa seeing them claim that they still owned the club after the 777 collapse. A-Cap claimed that they had provided a major loan to Genoa in 2023, which included certain powers, such as voting rights. However, the court rejected the claim, determining that any alleged voting power could not be enforced.
Upon the decision from the court, a Genoa press statement read: “It was determined that [A-CAP] is not and has never been the holder of the right to challenge the Shareholders’ Meeting Resolution, as it is not listed among the shareholders of Genoa CFC. “Furthermore, the alleged voting power granted to A-CAP by the companies 600 Partners LLC and 777 Partners cannot be enforced against Genoa CFC, nor can the financial agreements signed between the aforementioned companies be enforced. “The alleged damage complained of by A-CAP is the exclusive consequence of the latter’s choice not to participate in the capital increase, as proven by the facts that A-CAP had been made aware of the possibility of intervening.
” A-CAP’s interest in acquiring Everton last year stemmed from it’s CEO, Kenneth King wanting to protect the investment made in 777 Partners’ football businesses where A-CAP were understood to have provided the bulk of the £200m funding that 777 had used to fund working capital at Everton as part of the initial agreement between former owner Farhad Moshiri and 777. The 777 Partners loans to the Blues to Everton were via unsecured junior debt, placing them at the back of the queue of creditors that included Rights and Media Funding Limited, MSP Sports Capital, Bell and Downing, and Metro Bank. With 777’s businesses having been failing, and A-CAP wanting to reduce exposure, a play to acquire the club and then refinance the debt to remove 777 from the picture was seen as a way of doing that, as well as allowing them to make the case that they have taken steps to protect policyholders and investors from the exposure to 777 businesses.
The club was eventually sold to The Friedkin Group in December 2024, with TFG having made moves to restructure the messy stadium debt recently and pay off the debt that had been accrued to A-CAP, as well as other significant creditors..
