John Textor is willing to sell his stake in Crystal Palace for £175m – and put an end the club’s European crisis.
Mail Sport understands that the American, whose ownership of French side Lyon has placed the Eagles’ historic Europa League place at risk, has offered his stake to his fellow co-owners in a last-ditch bid to ensure the club does not fall foul of UEFA’s rules.
The figure, for Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings’ 43 per cent share, is understood to value Palace at significantly less than the amount Textor himself offered to buy out his three fellow directors earlier this year, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The development is the latest in a high-stakes situation, as the the clock ticks towards a conclusion. Last week, this newspaper revealed that a delegation from Palace jetted to UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland last week to plead their case.
It is thought that a key element of their argument was that while Textor’s company holds the largest stake, he is only entitled to 25 per cent of the voting rights and as such is not in a position of influence. However, that may well not be enough to satisfy UEFA chiefs – with a rapid sale now being viewed in certain quarters as the only way out.
Palace chairman Steve Parish also holds 25 per cent of the voting rights along with two other partners, the Americans Josh Harris and David Blitzer.
Crystal Palace majority owner John Textor is willing to sell his stake in the club
Palace won the FA Cup last month but are at risk of being kicked out of Europe due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules
Joshua Harris (left) and David Blitzer (right) would be the most likely to buy Textor out to keep Palace in Europe
Harris and Blitzer would be the two most likely to buy Textor’s company out and it is thought that Woody Johnson, the owner of the NFL’s New York Jets and former US ambassador to the UK, may yet become involved. Textor’s asking price is thought to be more than £50m less than the revenue-multiplied-by-three formula often used to value business.
Palace unexpectedly qualified for the Europa League thanks to their shock FA Cup victory over Manchester City. Other clubs with similar models often put their ownerships into a ‘blind trust’, to avoid any issues with UEFA’s rules. However, at the March cut-off for submissions, the prospect of Palace qualifying for Europe was unlikely at best.
Should the situation not be resolved Textor’s Lyon would take the Europa League slot as they finished higher in their domestic league. To exacerbate the situation, Blitzer’s Brondby would then take the Europa Conference spot for the same reason as he also failed to spot the potential issues. Nottingham Forest would be elevated from the Conference League to the Europa League while Palace’s rivals Brighton would take a slot in the Conference League.
Palace have until June 24 to present their final case to UEFA officials, who are then expected to take around a week before reaching a verdict.
Should they not be satisfied with the ruling, Palace could appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as could the other clubs involved in what is a complex situation. Suich a scenario is not unlikely given what is at stake.
