Gulf Finance House (GFH) have exchanged contracts with controversial Italian Massimo Cellino through his company Eleonora Sport Ltd. for a 75 per cent stake in the club. Cellino is believed to have paid about £25m which is a good return for GFH on their £20m investment. The rival consortium was thought to be offering £30m, but in staged payments and for complete control.
Gulf Finance House (GFH) have exchanged contracts with controversial Italian Massimo Cellino through his company Eleonora Sport Ltd. for a 75 per cent stake in the club. Cellino is believed to have paid about £25m which is a good return for GFH on their £20m investment. The rival consortium was thought to be offering £30m, but in staged payments and for complete control.
Leeds are reported to have taken a £1.5m loan from Cellino this week according to the Financial Times. This does raise questions about cash flow at the club. Managing director David Haigh has personally lent the club about £2m since its 2012 takeover.
The sale has to be approved by the Football League and, judging by a rather opaque statement issued yesterday, they seem to be in no hurry to do so. The whole matter is rather embarrassing for them as despite Cellino’s convictions for fraud and false accounting, it may not be possible to bar him from running the club within League rules as they are constructed. In any event, such a decision would be vulnerable to a legal challenge.
In what could be seen as a shot across Cellino’s bows, the League have blocked the loan transfer of Andrea Tabanelli from Cagliari to Leeds. It appears that the paperwork was not in order, which is not surprising given the unusual circumstances in which the move occurred.
GFH Capital will retain a 10 per cent stake in Leeds and Salah Nooruddin will stay on as chairman. Bahrain’s International Investment Bank will have a 15 per cent holding. In a somewhat surprising move, managing director David Haigh will become chief executive under the new regime. It had been thought that Cellino would want to bring in Chris Farnell, the lawyer instructed to sack Brian McDermott, as chief executive.
As for McDermott, he has been given a stay of execution, but looks like a dead man walking. It is difficult to see him staying beyond the summer.
It appears that Cellinio will sell Cagliari which he was owned for 22 years, but once again there is an element of uncertainty. It seems most likely that the new owners will be from Qatar or the United States.