Everton announce Finch Farm deal with USM Holdings

Thursday 5 January 2017

In a first for the Premier League, the club's Academy and training facility will be renamed USM Finch Farm in an initial five-year deal with the company founded by Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, that also includes match-day advertising at Goodison Park.

It is part of a £75m package of commercial deals that will include a new shirt-sponsorship arrangement. No details of that deal have emerged yet but CEO Robert Elstone revealed at this week's AGM that it would likely be 300% more than the current one with Chang.

Usmanov, one of the world's richest men with a personal fortune valued at around £11.6bn, is a long-time business partner of Farhad Moshiri and owns a 30% stake in Arsenal FC.

Moshiri is the chairman of the board of directors and a major shareholder of USM which handles Usmanov's corporate assets and counts Metalloinvest, one of Russia's largest mining firms, and telecoms giant MegaFon in the same country as assets.

Though speculation has swirled that Usmanov was considering selling his shares in Arsenal after seeing his hopes of increasing his holdings in the London club stonewalled by owner Stan Kroenke, representatives of the tycoon insisted recently that he has no plans to walk away from the Gunners.

Ivan Streshinsky, who sits on the board of USM Holdings said of the deal: “The naming of Finch Farm, and the extensive package of marketing rights, provides USM and the businesses within our group with unique year-round global media exposure.

We've done considerable research into what this partnership can deliver for us and we're very excited about the difference this will make as we continue to build our brands.” Meanwhile, Everton CEO, Robert Elstone expressed his pleasure at being able to welcome USM into the club's commercial portfolio.

"I'm sure that the marketing platform this provides USM and its businesses will help them achieve their growth objectives," he said. "It is a significant and exciting deal for Everton as we continue to grow our commercial revenues.

"We've invested heavily into our training facilities over recent years and this deal means we can continue to provide top class facilities, which we know plays an important role in attracting the best playing talent, from academy right through to first-team.”

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