The saga of John Textor’s co-ownership of Crystal Palace may be coming to an end as US billionaire Woody Johnson has reportedly agreed a deal to acquire Textor’s share.
Crystal Palace owner John Textor is on the verge of selling his 43% share in the club to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for a reported £190m.
The bid is subject to Premier League approval and is within the £200m range Textor was seeking for his share in Crystal Palace, who has been actively shopping his stake in order to help the club secure Europa League football next season.
Johnson reportedly was close to an agreement with Textor on June 19, according to BBC, with negotiations having extended to Johnson signing documents agreeing to the acquisition.
Further reports with sources close to the matter have outlined Johnson is preparing to send the £190m quickly in a bid to complete the acquisition, a key reason as to why Textor favoured his bid.
Despite Textor reportedly accepting Johnson’s bid, he must gain the approval of the league as well as pass the owners and director’s test that will determine whether or not Johnson is suitable to run a football club.
Who is Woody Johnson?
Johnson is heir to the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, with Bloomberg projecting his wealth to be $9.92bn. The 78 year old has also served as the US Ambassador to the UK from 2017 – 2021 under Donald Trump’s first term.
Johnson acquired the Jets in 2000 for $635m and despite the NFL franchise now being valued at over $6bn, he has yet to guide the team to a Super Bowl during his 25-year ownership.
Johnson was also one of the names interested in acquiring Chelsea FC in 2022 after the UK sanctioned former owner Roman Abramovich to sell the club. His reported £2bn bid was rejected in favour of a £2.5bn deal from a consortium consisting of Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
European hopes alive for Palace
The potential sale of Textor’s shares in Crystal Palace may see the Premier League club compete in the UEFA Europa League – it has so far been prevented from this due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
Article 5 of UEFA regulations state that to ensure the “integrity” of its competitions, owners of two clubs competing in the same competition must not be involved in “any capacity whatsoever in the management” of the club, as well as have no “power whatsoever”.
Textor holds a 40% stake in French football club Olympique Lyonnais, another football club which has qualified for the Europa League next season.
Reports emerged that a US consortium consisting of Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili, ex-Roc Nation lawyer Wajid Mir and NBA star Jimmy Butler were on the verge of bidding £200m for Textor’s share.
However, it looks likely Johnson will now be the new co-owner of the London football club and will look to build upon a successful season which saw Crystal Palace win the first trophy in their history, winning the FA Cup in a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
