Dubai-based private equity firm and subsidiary of Bahrain investment bank Gulf Finance House, GFH Capital Limited, is in the final stages of sealing a deal for a possible takeover of Leeds United.

Club chairman Ken Bates confirmed that representatives from the group attended the United 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest at Elland Road on Saturday, according to reports in the Yorkshire Post yesterday.

The paper named and printed in its online edition three senior members from the GFH Capital Limited (formerly Injazat Capital) that includes its chief operating officer David Haigh, Salem Patel and Hisham Alrayes.

"A football club isn't the kind of business banks get involved in. It is outside the normal scope so they have to have a learning curve to understand how a football club works. When they come in they want to make it a success. To make it a success they have to do the ground work," Bates was quoted as saying in the paper yesterday.

The club chairman had confirmed that negotiations surrounding potential foreign investment in the club have reached an "advanced stage" and could be finalised by the end of this year.

"They are a banking institution and a public company. Not only can speculation affect their share price, they are also governed by heavy banking regulations. They are using London lawyers and there have been some logistical issues, but we have discussed things at length and agreed that we can make certain things public." – TradeArabia News Service