Press reports over the weekend have suggested that Dubai based Zabeel Investments have lost interest in unglamorous south-east London Charlton Athletic, available at a knockdown price, and switched their attention to Everton. One possibility that does not seem to have been considered is that, given that this is the era of the sovereign wealth fund, Dubai-based interests might buy both a Merseyside club and Charlton. Dubai Investment Corporation have been circling Liverpool for some time, but they might consider Everton a better value buy and more readily available.
Press reports over the weekend have suggested that Dubai based Zabeel Investments have lost interest in unglamorous south-east London Charlton Athletic, available at a knockdown price, and switched their attention to Everton. One possibility that does not seem to have been considered is that, given that this is the era of the sovereign wealth fund, Dubai-based interests might buy both a Merseyside club and Charlton. Dubai Investment Corporation have been circling Liverpool for some time, but they might consider Everton a better value buy and more readily available. Zabeel is not the same company, although there are apparently family relationships within the extensive Dubai royal family. Would such a dual ownership fall foul of ‘conflict of interest’ rules? It will be recalled that in the 1980s controversial tycoon Robert Maxwell rescued Derby, prompting the chant ‘He’s fat, he’s round, he’s never at the ground’, while also being involved with Oxford and negotiating to buy two others (Spurs and Watford). I haven’t taken the option of ‘ringing a friend’ (a sports lawyer) but my view would be that provided the entities involved in ownership are legally distinct and have different people at their helm, a conflict of interest does not arise in terms of the rules. But these are sensitive times about big money in football and, if the deals do go ahead, it could all end up in court.
UPDATE: Media Hype Scared Off Gulf Investors – 4/11/2008
Zabeel Investments ended their proposed acquisition of Charlton Athletic because the media hype it attracted threatened their preferred low profile. The timing of the global financial crisis was also a factor. The executive chairman of Zabeel, Mohammed Ali Ali-Hashimi, told wire services, ‘All of a sudden it opened up a Pandora’s box. People were talking about foreign ownership … every other day we spent time denying this club and that club and it became out of control. We are used to doing things relatively under the radar and our focus became having to keep an eye on what was being written in the media.’ Ali-Hashimi said that they have looked to buy Championship side Charlton because Premiership clubs were overvalued. He added that Zabeel would look at lower-profile opportunities without specifying if it would look at buying clubs in the future.