A group of investors including former San Diego Padres owner John J Moores is weighing a potential move to purchase Premier League club Everton.
According to The Times, Moores, Charles Noell and their partners have been granted a six-week period of exclusivity by Everton chairman Bill Kenwright to look at the club's financials.
The takeover could be worth £200 million.
Fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace were recently the beneficiaries of money from the United States when they agreed to sell 36 percent of the club to American Josh Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA, and his partner David Blitzer.
This is not the first time Moores and Noell have explored the possibility of investing in a club in England's top flight. The two businessmen were linked with a similar deal with Swansea City 12 months ago, holding discussions with owner Huw Jenkins, the chairman and the club's supporters' trust in an effort to buy 33 percent of Swans. That deal fell through.
Everton's Kenwright is on record saying he would sell his stake in the club if he thought it would help the team compete with the league's top teams and the report says he's heard three "viable options" since October.
Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City dismissed a BBC report in October that suggested the club was close to a deal to buy Everton.
Tech entrepreneur Moores bought Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres for $80 million in 1994 and sold the team for 10 times that in 2012.