Former Everton sponsor Alisher Usmanov has taken legal action against a company owned by the club’s owner Farhad Moshiri, creating a complicating factor in Everton’s already difficult takeover process.

Usmanov, 70, is the founder of the global conglomerate USM, whose companies provided sponsorship to Everton worth some £12m each year, as well as purchasing a first naming rights option on the club’s new stadium worth £30m.

However, that funding stopped in March 2022 when Usmanov was sanctioned by the United States, European Union, and United Kingdom following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Usmanov described by the EU as a “pro-Kremlin leading businessperson with particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin”. Usmanov rejects that characterisation.

Moshiri made his money as the CEO of a number of Usmanov’s companies, including becoming chairman of USM Holdings in 2013, a role which he resigned once Usmanov was sanctioned.

Documents filed at Moscow’s Arbitration Court in September 2023, and seen by The Athletic, list Somelior Holdings Limited, a Cypriot-registered company owned wholly by Moshiri, as one of six defendants in a case brought by Usmanov and USM Holdings. Somelior Holdings previously held a 10 per cent stake in USM, which had gone down to five per cent prior to the sanctions.

According to the documents, Judge A.N. Petrukhina approved a motion to hold the hearing behind closed doors owing to “the presence of trade secrets in the documents to be examined”, which had “been established by the court”.

Over the course of the Everton sale process, it is understood that multiple Everton bidders have become aware of the existence of this case.

One concern for bidders, which at least one group has discussed, is whether any payment to Moshiri is at risk of breaking sanction laws if the purchase money is used to pay damages to Usmanov — though one source close to Moshiri with knowledge of the case insists that UK laws and regulations would prevent him from paying damages.

This legal case being held behind closed doors, as well as the opacity of the judicial system in Russia, means it is difficult for prospective owners to know whether any resolution in the case had been reached.

The Athletic approached both representatives for Moshiri and Usmanov for comment. No response was received from Usmanov. A spokesperson for Moshiri declined to formally comment, but said that the court action was complete.

Moshiri’s side have characterised the case as the seizing of foreign investment in Russian companies under counter-sanctioning measures, supported by the country’s government. Russia has placed the UK on its “Unfriendly Countries List” owing to its stance on the invasion of Ukraine. The five per cent share was a personal asset of Moshiri, rather than Everton, and is understood to have held significant value.

Moshiri has been attempting to sell Everton since the conflict started in February 2022, but the process has been arduous. He had agreed a takeover deal with American investment group 777 Partners, only for that deal to collapse due to 777’s inability to achieve Premier League approval and the investment group’s own financial and legal issues.

The Friedkin Group subsequently entered a period of exclusive talks, but withdrew from negotiations last month, citing concerns about Everton’s debt to 777.

Currently, Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is the frontrunner in the process, and is in the process of negotiating with both Moshiri and Everton’s creditors, but would need to sell his shares in Palace before finalising any deal.

GO DEEPER

Textor to be Everton’s saviour? Forgive the scepticism but this club do not easily deal in hope

(Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images / Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)