The New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, is closing in on a deal to buy John Textor’s shares in Crystal Palace in a move that could helpthe FA Cup winners’chances of playing in next season’s Europa League.
Johnson, who has owned the Jets since 2000, offered £190m for the 44.9% stake in the club last week, while Textor is believed to have received two similar bids from separate investors in recent days.
Despite being significantly below his valuation of about £240m, Textor is edging towards concluding a deal with Johnson and is said to be ready to move on to invest in another club in English football after accepting defeat in his boardroom battle with the club’s chair, Steve Parish.
He is believed to be under increasing pressure from Parish and Palace’s other co-owners – Textor’s fellow Americans Josh Harris and David Blitzer – to complete the sale as quickly as possible as it is thought that would be looked on favourably by Uefa, with European football’s governing body expected to announce before the end of June whether Palace will be allowed to compete in the Europa League.
All four Palace co-owners were part of the delegation that attended a meeting at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon this month and argued that Textor, the majority shareholder in the French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League, does not have a decisive influence at Selhurst Park despite being the largest shareholder.
Uefa rejected attempts by Textor and Blitzer to place their shares in a blind trust because they missed the 1 March deadline. Blitzer’s Danish club, Brøndby, have qualified for the Conference League.
Johnson is considered the most viable option of the three bids, with his status as a former US ambassador to the UK from 2017-2021 and the heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune making it likely he would pass the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test without any difficulty.
According to a source close to Textor, the other interested parties are a consortium that includes the NBA star Jimmy Butler and another private investor from the US.
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The offer from Johnson also has the backing of Parish, who was spotted with the 78-year-old friend of Donald Trump at Palace’s game against Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park last month. Palace are understood to remain confident they will be cleared to participate in the Europa League, although Forest could appeal to the court of arbitration for sport after they wrote to Uefa last week raising concerns about a potential breach of multi-club ownership rules by Palace. Forest, whose owner, Evangelos Marinakis, is close to Textor, would stand to be promoted from the Conference League if Palace are banned by Uefa.
It was reported on Sundaythat Textor had listed his holding company Eagle Football – which also owns the Brazilian side Botafogo and the rebranded Belgian team Daring Brussels (formerly RWD Molenbeek) – for an initial public offering in the US, with a draft registration statement having been sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither the volume nor prices of the shares to be listed has been revealed but it is expected to go public in September. Textor has previously held talks over investing in Watford.