GFH Capital sells stake in Leeds United
Manama, August 16, 2013
The Dubai-based investment firm that bought English soccer club Leeds United in December after lengthy negotiations sold more than half of its 100 per cent holding less than six months later, a report quoting its financial statements said.
GFH Capital, a subsidiary of Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House, offloaded a 10 per cent stake to Bahrain-based International Investment Bank earlier this year and its second-quarter financial statement showed it had now sold a total of more than half the shares, said the report in the Gulf Daily News.
The statement did not say who the buyer was, specifying only that it had made a gain of $776,000 on the sale and was now deconsolidating Leeds results from its own. GFH could not be reached for comment yesterday, the report said.
The company paid £52 million ($80.4 million) last year to buy Leeds from previous owner Ken Bates.
The club's website lists shareholders of Grand Cayman-based LUFC Holding Limited - owner of Leeds City Holdings Limited, which in turn owns the club - as GFH Capital, International Investment Bank and Envest Limited.
Envest is owned by Salah Nooruddin, who replaced Bates as chairman, and his wife, the report said.
GFH, which had already booked a $10.4 million profit on the Leeds deal in its 2012 financial statement, said in April it had offers from several investors for stakes in the club.
The company has been forced into a number of debt restructurings as well as a major overhaul of its business model since 2010 as it struggled in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the report said. - TradeArabia News Service
