Everton ($EFC) Fan Token Surges 15% as Owners Prepare £200M Transfer Kitty
Author: Greg Thomson
News that Everton’s majority owners the Friedkin Group have asked shareholders to allow the owners to buy 1.14 million new shares from the club appears to have sent a new wave of optimism around Goodison Park, with the Everton FC Fan Token ($EFC) reacting in a matter of just hours following the news.
An eight-fold increase in trade volume flooded into the Everton FC Fan Token ($EFC) overnight as the ($EFC) spot price jumped from $0.150 up to $0.173 – marking 15.3% growth in a matter of mere hours.
Trade volume increased from $100,000 to $820,000 in that time, potentially signalling that Everton fans are bullish regarding the future of their team – and their token – based on the revelations in the owners’ letter.
What Does the Everton Owners’ Letter Mean?
The letter to investors details has major ramifications for the David Moyes’ Everton rebuild going forward.
Due to the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, additional investment in the club by Roundhouse Capital Holdings Ltd (the acquisition arm of the Friedkin Group) would have to be made through equity subscription.
In other words, the club would have to issue new shares. The letter, revealed to X on July 23 by Paul Quinn (@theesk), details the owner’s request to existing shareholders that they be allowed to issue those shares and then buy them back themselves – the only way to circumvent the APT rules.
If January 2025’s share issuances are anything to go by – and a share price of £174.66 is sustained – the news signals that additional investment of around £200 million is set to pour into Goodison Park.
The only catch is that existing shareholders would have to agree to waive their statutory pre-emption rights which usually exclude existing shareholders from buying up new shares themselves.
If they do so, it would enable “significant investment over the coming seasons to support squad development and other projects,” according to the letter.
With the end of the transfer window still a long way off, Everton have already spent €49.6 million on new players this season.
Among the new arrivals is the 6ft 5in Thierno Barry from Villarreal for €30 million, who appears to fit the mold of Moyes’ Everton strikers of old with his size, strength and penalty-box prowess.
If today’s ($EFC) price movement is anything to go by, expect more action as the Everton owners’ shares saga unfolds.