Bid For Leeds? - 19/09/2004

Nadhmi Auchi, a British-based businessman with a fortune claimed to be worth £1.3 billion, is reported to be drawing up plans to take control of Leeds. He hopes the move the club to a new stadium, re-developing Elland Road. The ground lies in an attractive area for property developments, close to motorway, and this is thought to have sparked Auchi's interest. The low profile businessman left Iraq in the late 1970's. His career has not been without controversy. He is appealing against a conviction by a French court for paying kickbacks to the oil firm Elf, a prosecution that he claims was politically motivated. In Britain a pharmaceutical firm he owns is assisting in a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into a price-fixing cartel.