John Textor agrees to sell £160m Crystal Palace stake to Woody Johnson
John Textor has agreed the sale of his company's stake in Crystal Palace to the US billionaire Woody Johnson in a move that should enable the FA Cup winners to play in the Europa League next season.
Palace were facing exclusion from the competition because of Eagle Football Holding's ownership of the French club Lyon, with Textor and the club chairman Steve Parish attending a meeting at Uefa's headquarters in Switzerland earlier this month in the hope of resolving the matter.
But Textor recognised a sale of Eagle Football Holding's 43 per cent stake, for what the Times understands is £160million, was the simplest way of removing the issue with the company's multi-club ownership model.
Johnson, left, also owns the New York Jets NFL team and is an ally of Trump
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Sources have confirmed to The Times that a definitive agreement has been signed with Johnson, subject to Premier League approval. That should not prove an issue.
Uefa are due to rule on Palace's involvement in the Europa League at the end of June.
Nottingham Forest, who had hoped to be promoted from the Conference League to the Europa League if Palace were forbidden from taking part, wrote to Uefa with their concerns about Palace's participation.
Johnson, 78, is worth more than £7billion as a member of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals family and is already an owner of the New York Jets NFL team. He is also the former US ambassador to the UK and a major ally of president Donald Trump.
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