Textor sells Crystal Palace stake to boost hopes of European competition

LONDON: New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has agreed to buy John Textor’s 43 percent stake in Crystal Palace in a deal that could boost the Eagles’ hopes of playing in the Europa League next season.

The London club qualified for Europe for the first time in their history in May, beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final to win their first major trophy. However, US businessman Textor has a majority stake in French side Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.

Under UEFA multi-club ownership rules, it looked as though Palace would miss out because they finished lower in the Premier League (12th) than Lyon (6th) in Ligue 1 last season. The BBC reported that Johnson, a former US ambassador to the United Kingdom, would pay £190 million ($255 million) for the shares.

“Crystal Palace Football Club can confirm that Robert Wood Johnson, ‘Woody’, an American businessman and co-owner of the New York Jets, has signed a legally binding contract to purchase Eagle Football’s holding in the club,” Palace said in a statement on Monday.

“Whilst the completion is pending approval from the Premier League and Women’s Super League, we do not envisage any issues and look forward to welcoming Woody as a partner and director of the club.”

Johnson, 78, is one of the heirs to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical empire and had a net worth of $9.2 billion in 2024, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In 2022 he missed out in a bid to buy Chelsea and is close to US President Donald Trump, under whom he served.

Textor, who also owns a significant stake in Brazilian side Botafogo, initially invested in Palace in 2021. A decision by UEFA on Palace’s participation in European competition is expected before the end of the month.