2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Dave Powell)
777 Partners have been facing a number of legal cases so far this year, and have launched a suit of their own in Florida A legal case that has impacted the takeover process at Everton has taken a fresh twist. One-time bidder 777 Partners have hit back and filed its own suit against Leadenhall Capital. One of the main reasons why US billionaire Dan Friedkin’s Friedkin Group opted to step away from takeover talks with current Blues owner Farhad Moshiri was that they were concerned over the ongoing legal battle being fought in a New York civil court between 777 Partners and London-based Leadenhall Capital.
Leadenhall Capital alleged earlier this year that 777, who had agreed a deal to buy Everton 12 months ago only to see it fall apart at the end of May, and the company's co-founder Josh Wander 'pledged' more than $350m in assets as collateral for a credit facility agreement, but knew they “did not exist” or were “not actually owned by Wander’s entities.” 777 Partners have refuted the allegations. Leadenhall’s court filing at the time, back in May, read: “Everton is the latest shiny object of Wander’s fraudulent scheme, solvency aside.
” The case is important as 777 Partners continues to be connected to the Blues due to the fact that the firm, with the help of financing provided by A-CAP, provided more than £200m in funds to the club during the doomed takeover bid for working capital. With allegations of fraudulent activity around the view from the Friedkin Group was taken that there was simply too much risk attached. Another bidder for Everton, John Textor, is understood to have less issue with the perceived risk, while the Friedkin Group, who would need their own £200m-plus loan to the club to be repaid by Textor should he gain control of the club, are keeping an eye on developments and cannot totally be ruled out for a return to the table , although sources close to the group have moved to distance the company from such talks.
But hopes of a swifter resolution to the 777 Partners and Leadenhall case that might embolden the Friedkin Group to reignite their interest appear to have been dealt a blow. In a Florida court on Tuesday, 777 filed their own suit against Leadenhall Capital In the complaint, which has been seen by the ECHO, Leadenhall Capital is alleged to have illegally accessed 777 Partners’ computer systems by enlisting forensic accounting firm SAIPH Consulting. The firm in question was founded by a former executive of SuttonPark Capital, an affiliated 777 Partners company founded by the company's co-founder Steven Pasko, and employs 777’s former IT chief, Noah Davis, it is alleged in the filing.
The 777 Partners suit against Leadenhall alleges that Davis, who left his role with 777 back in April, broke into offices of SuttonPark Capital and stole laptops, as well as accessed the systems of 777 Partners. The suit does not specify what information was taken by Davis and to what degree it would have been beneficial to Leadenhall Capital in its own case against 777. Leigh Nathanson, a lawyer for Leadenhall, told Bloomberg that the move was “the latest brazen attempt” by 777 to frustrate its attempts to secure the remaining collateral.
“We will continue to take all appropriate legal actions to maximize recovery for our investors,” he said. The Florida suit filed by 777 Partners makes allegations against Leadenhall that they were engaged in fraudulent activity in a bid to strengthen their own case that was live in the New York City court. The company also alleged that Davis accessed the emails of Pasko and sought to transfer information from it.
The court filing read: “Because of Davis’s knowledge of Plaintiffs’ (777 Partners) computer systems and his unauthorised grant to himself of administrator level access, the full extent of his activities within 777 Partners’ systems, including the actual number of illegal incursions, what information he may have reviewed, copied, altered, or otherwise interfered with, and for what purposes, is not, and may never be, fully known. “Additionally, not satisfied with merely making virtual incursions onto Plaintiffs’ property, Davis was later captured on video surveillance cameras breaking into SuttonPark’s offices, without permission, and stealing several laptop computers belonging to 777 Partners, likely to further access whatever confidential and propriety information belonging to 777 Partners he might find therein. “SAIPH subsequently confirmed in writing that Davis had engaged in this improper physical access.
Moreover, in doing so, SAIPH intriguingly let slip the involvement of Leadenhall by referencing it by name in the first version of this correspondence sent to 777 Partners’ counsel, before quickly sending a second version that was otherwise substantively identical but for removal of the reference to Leadenhall.” For 777 Partners, 2024 has seen a number of legal issues placed at their door, including a March suit by investment firm Obra Capital who claimed that they were owed more than $22m by 777. Recent months has seen the firm lurch from crisis to crisis after its proposed bid to take over at Everton failed, with investment bank Moelis instructed to evaluate the football holdings of 777 Partners, which includes Genoa, Hertha Berlin, Standard Liege, Vasco da Gama, Melbourne Victory, and Red Star Paris, with a view to potentially selling assets.
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