Leeds Owner Sells More than Half Stake in Club

The Dubai-based investment firm that bought Leeds United in December sold over half of its 100% holding of the club less than six months later, according to financial statements.

The owners, GFH Capital, sold 10% to International Investment Bank in Bahrain earlier this year and the company’s second quarter financial statement showed that over half of the shares have now been sold.

The buyer is not specified in the statement, though it does state that GFH Capital made a gain of $776,000 on the sale and was deconsolidating Leeds financial results from their own.

GFH bought the Championship club from Ken Bates for £52 million ($80.4m). GFH had posted a $10.4m profit on their purchase of Leeds in their 2012 statement, and in April said that several investors were interesting in purchasing a stake in the club.

The company had been forced to overhaul its business model and restructure their debt following the global financial crisis. The latest financial results show that they made a profit of $4.2 million in the first half of 2013. On an operating level, the group lost $13 million, and reported accumulated losses since establishment of $379 million.