Everton have announced that Iranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri will become the club’s major shareholder after agreeing a deal approaching £200million.

Sportsmail revealed on Saturday that Bill Kenwright, who will remain as chairman at Goodison Park, had finally concluded a decade-long search for major new investment after accepting an offer from the Middle East.

And Everton said that former Arsenal shareholder Moshiri, 60, will acquire his stake ‘conditional only on the Premier League approving his investment’.

Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri is the new major shareholder at Everton

Everton have moved into a new era and confirmed the sale of shares on Saturday afternoon

Bill Kenwright (left, pictured with Wayne Rooney) will remain as chairman at Everton

Already quoted by Forbes to be worth £1.3billion, the Iranian raised the money by selling his stake in Arsenal to the London club’s second largest shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, earlier this week.

His shares had an estimated value of around £200million and a large part of that is understood to have been invested not just in buying the shares at Everton but in buying debt at the club.

In a statement Everton said: ‘Everton Football Club today announces that the club will have a new major shareholder who brings the promise of new investment.

‘Farhad Moshiri will acquire 49.9% of the club, conditional only on the Premier League approving his investment.’ In the same statement Kenwright, 70, said: ‘I believe we have found the perfect partner to take the club forward. I have got to know Farhad well over the last 18 months and his football knowledge, financial wherewithal and True Blue spirit have convinced me that he is the right man to support Everton.’

Moshiri added: ‘I am delighted to take this opportunity to become a shareholder in Everton, with its rich heritage as one of Europe’s leading football clubs. There has never been a more level playing field in the Premier League than now. Bill Kenwright has taught me what it means to be an Evertonian and I look forward to working with him to help deliver success for Everton in the future.’

Roberto Martinez's side are in new hands ahead of Everton's match against Aston Villa on Tuesday night

Kenwright will remain on the board to oversee Moshiri’s investment not only in playing staff but what the club now hopes will be a new stadium.

Interest in Everton from America had been strong, but when this fell away, Moshiri made his move after agreeing the deal with Usmanov to sell his Arsenal shares.

Moshiri clearly wants a bigger say in the running of a football club. With Usmanov he had hoped to purchase Arsenal from Stan Kroenke but the American refused to sell, their 30.04 per cent stake not even securing them a place on the north London club’s board.

Educated at the University of London, Moshiri worked as a chartered accountant at a number of top accountancy firms. He reportedly divides his time between London and Monaco and in 2011 he was quoted as saying: ‘My parents fled Iran in February 1979, just before the Iranian Revolution.’

Sportsmail revealed that Moshiri, who has sold his shares in Arsenal to Alisher Usmanov, was behind the takeover earlier on Saturday.

The new owner will immediately have to deal with doubts about the future of the club's best players, especially John Stones – who is a target for Manchester City and could fetch around £45m in the summer transfer window.

Everton boss Martinez (right) has previously said he would like to see Kenwright (left) remain at the club

Moshiri acquires 49.9 per cent, conditional on the Premier League approving his investment.

Bill Kenwright, who will stay on as the club's chairman, said: 'After an exhaustive search I believe we have found the perfect partner to take the Club forward. I have got to know Farhad well over the last 18 months and his football knowledge, financial wherewithal and True Blue spirit have convinced me that he is the right man to support Everton.'

Moshiri added: 'I am delighted to take this opportunity to become a shareholder in Everton, with its rich heritage as one of Europe's leading football clubs. There has never been a more level playing field in the Premier League than now.

'Bill Kenwright has taught me what it means to be an Evertonian and I look forward with excitement to working with him to help deliver success for Everton in the future.'

The new owner will be hoping to keep hold of highly-rated centre back John Stones in the summer

Interest from America was strong. A group led by the former owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team, John Jay Moores, and fellow entrepreneur Charles Noell were in talks with Everton owner Kenwright.

Moores and Noell were also thought to be interested in Swansea but reached a point before Christmas where they were ready to perform due diligence on the accounts at Goodison Park.

They were actually among a number of interested parties from the US. In October a consortium with links to Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City had also considered an offer for the Premier League club.

While reports claimed Moores and Noell had been granted a period of exclusivity by Kenwright until the end of January to examine Everton's finances.

Earlier this month manager Roberto Martinez urged Kenwright to remain at the club as chairman.

The Toffees will also be desperate to retain the service of Ross Barkley (left) and Romelu Lukaku (right)

'I've always said what the chairman is for Everton and I wouldn't want Bill Kenwright to lose his association with Everton, ever,' he said. 'I think it would be a loss if we do that. Whatever the investment or whatever the situation is in the future, in 10 or 15 years I would love to see Everton benefit from our chairman for the rest of his life.'

Now 70, Kenwright has long insisted he wants to sell Everton to the right investor. The need to either move to a new stadium or redevelop Goodison Park has proved a major deterrent to potential buyers, as has a net debt of £31.3m in 2014-15, but Martinez insisted the club's finances are strong thanks to the new £5.14billion Premier League broadcasting deal.

'We are not in a situation where we need to be rescued or we need some sort of financial boost to save the club,' said Martinez. 'That's not the case. We are in a very strong position. We don't have to sell players for financial reasons, so new owners would need to understand the club, what Everton is and what it represents to thousands of families.

'From that point on I can say to every Evertonian that our chairman is the perfect person to make the final calls going forward.

'I don't think a takeover is going to be that drastic. If there is an investor there's not going to be a drastic change on day one or day two. If it happens it's going to be over three years or a period where everything is well controlled and introduced.