A sports investment group advised by the former Everton director and experienced football financier Keith Harris has entered a period of exclusivity to invest in John Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings company.
Textor, the American businessman whose Eagle Football group owns a 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace, has previously granted exclusivity for a separate group from the United States and Saudi Arabia to directly purchase Eagle’s shares in Palace, as reported by The Athletic on Monday. He has now given exclusivity to a second group, Sportsbank, to invest in Eagle Football.
The two deals are entirely separate, with Sportsbank seeking to fund Eagle — which also has majority stakes in Ligue 1 side Lyon, Brazilian champions and Copa Libertadores winners Botafogo and Belgian first division B side RWD Molenbeek — while the U.S.-Saudi bid would consist of a direct purchase of Eagle’s shares in Palace.
Harris, the former chairman of the Football League, has helped facilitate takeovers at West Ham United, Manchester City and Aston Villa. The group is fronted by two Palace supporters Zechariah Janjua — who describes himself as a tech investor and entrepreneur — and Navshir Jaffer, whose background is in finance. It is thought to be funded by companies across several countries, including the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.
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Textor enters exclusivity with U.S.-Saudi group over potential sale of Palace stake
Sportsbank released a statement on Wednesday which read: “Sportsbank Limited a sports investment company led by Crystal Palace supporter Zechariah Janjua, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Eagle Football Holdings Limited (“Eagles”) for an investment in Eagles, which will include a period of exclusivity while due diligence is conducted and relevant commercial and legal agreements are concluded.”
The statement said that Sportsbank intends to make a significant financial and management investment in Eagle Football “with the backing of major international financial and strategic management investors,” with the multi-club model proving to be attractive to them.
Both groups are now in the process of demonstrating proof of funds and undertaking the relevant due diligence.
The U.S.-Saudi group includes Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and former Roc Nation attorney executive Wajid Mir. It is backed by Mansoor and Haider Syed, two brothers who were born in Saudi Arabia but educated in the U.S. who lead a fund established to buy a football club.
Textor bought a 40 per cent stake in Palace when he invested £87.5million in 2021, later transferring ownership to Eagle Football, and after a further £30m increased that stake to 45 per cent.
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(Lucas Figueiredo/Getty Images)
