777 Partners have reportedly moved close to agreeing a deal to buy Everton Football Club.
The US-based investment firm have been mentioned frequently regarding news about Everton's future ownership in recent months.
After MSB Capital pulled out of talks to invest in the club over the summer, Everton owner Farhad Moshiri allegedly reopened discussions with 777.
Bloomberg now claims that a takeover is imminent and will see Moshiri hand over control of the club after seven years as majority shareholder.
The report states that the deal could be finalised and confirmed as early as Tuesday, with Moshiri to exit the club.
After years of significant spending which has failed to prevent Everton from plummeting down the Premier League table under Moshiri's ownership, the Iranian businessman is expected to leave the club with a huge loss.
A new stadium on the site of the Bramley-Moore Dock is still a work in progress and was drawn up and brought to life during Moshiri's reign.
However, the money that has been spent on the new stadium has affected Everton in the transfer market, and is largely the reason why the club's net spend has been so much lower than most of the rest of the Premier League in the past two years.
The incoming owners are no strangers to owning football clubs, with multiple teams around the world currently under their jurisdiction.
The firm has a majority stake or complete ownership of Genoa, Standard Liege, Vasco da Gama, Red Star FC, Hertha Berlin and Melbourne Victory.
777 have not always enjoyed success during those ownership tenures, though, given that both Genoa and Hertha Berlin have been relegated since they took over.
Fans of Standard Liege have also shown their displeasure towards the firm, with banners held up during a match at the start of the month accusing 777 of damaging the club's future.
There was also backlash after their takeover of Red Star FC, a historically left-wing and working-class club in France, similar to that of Everton and the surrounding area, with fears they would turn them into a feeder club to protect other assets.
Regardless of the potential issues surrounding the new investors though, Everton fans are expected to welcome the departure of Moshiri, following arguably the worst era in the club's history.
After being perennial European qualifiers under David Moyes in the late 2000s to early 2010s, and finishing fifth with 72 points in 2013-14, the nine-time English champions are now regular relegation scrappers.
A string of unsuccessful managerial appointments and over £500m spent on players, many of whom have now left, either for very little or nothing at all after not making an impact, has crippled Everton on and off the field.
The atmosphere around the club has seen Moshiri, along with Bill Kenwright, stay clear of Goodison Park since January, after the Everton board accused its own fans of assault and sending death threats.
The other board members involved left at the start of the summer, but Moshiri and Kenwright remain for now, still choosing not to go to Goodison Park on matchdays.
Everton face Arsenal at Goodison Park on Sunday, on their return to league action following the international break with the club in the relegation zone. body check tags ::
