Textor ready to sell stake in Crystal Palace to help Eagles reach Europe
John Textor says he is ready to sell his stake in Crystal Palace to avoid the club being kicked out of the Europa League due to rules on multi-club ownership.
The American is the largest shareholder in the FA Cup winners with a 43 per cent stake and has accepted defeat in his recent attempts to gain control at Selhurst Park.
But Textor’s majority ownership of Lyon has caused a problem, with the French side also qualifying for the Europa League — potentially meaning Palace would be barred by Uefa.
“We are trying to help separate it and sell,” Textor told the Mail after Palace chiefs held talks with Uefa in Switzerland yesterday.
“We wanted to buy but it’s become clear that isn’t going to happen and so we’re trying to help Palace and the situation with Uefa.
“All of the UK knows that I don’t have decisive influence over Palace. It was a good meeting. They listened and we’ll see what happens.”
Textor was previously interested in selling his Palace shares to fund a move for Everton but has since turned his focus to an IPO of his multi-club group, Eagle Football, in his native US.
The firm was hit with a strike-off notice by Companies House for failing to file its accounts on time, but it is understood that it regards this as an oversight and plans to push on with the IPO.
The issue with Lyon relates to a perceived ownership conflict by Uefa, something until now Palace insiders have said is of little threat.
But Uefa’s rules have recently caused changes to clubs which involve the likes of Tony Bloom at Brighton and Hove Albion, Sir Jim Ratcliffe at Manchester United and Nice, and the Aston Villa ownership group.
Clubs in the same European competition are not barred from having the same owners but there must be proven Chinese walls in place to reject any form of corruption should those sides meet or influence European progression.
Crystal Palace secured their European qualification by winning the FA Cup in London in May, in what was their first ever major trophy.
The victory guaranteed them a number of home matches next season in the Europa League, which could be crucial to the club’s revenue generation and attractiveness in the open market.
It is unlikely that Palace would need to look too far for investors should Textor sell his shareholding in the south London club.
It is believed that an SEC filing on Eagle Football’s IPO is now “imminent”, having been delayed by President Trump’s tariff war causing market uncertainty.
Announcing a $40m investment led by UCEA Capital Partners late last year, Textor said: “Eagle Football has reached an exciting inflection point, and this funding brings us one step closer to our IPO ambitions.
“We are thrilled to have the backing of such a respected investor as we execute scalable entertainment and technology strategies to complement our network of global football clubs.”