Contracts exchange between GFH and Cellino as Leeds Takeover nears completion.

Leeds United have confirmed they have signed contracts to sell a 75% stake in the club to Massimo Cellino. The deal is subject to Football League approval.Chairman Salah Nooruddin will remain in his post and managing director David Haigh will become chief executive. In a statement, Nooruddin said: “I am delighted to announce that we have exchanged contracts for the sale of 75 per cent of the club to Eleonora Sport Ltd, subject to Football League approval. “GFH Capital and its investors will retain a 25 per cent stake in Leeds United. I will remain the club chairman and David Haigh will be the club CEO. “The board has always had as its principal aim the creation of a long term ownership structure through partnership with sound and strategic investors to build on the foundations we have laid for sustainable success for this great club. “We believe we will have achieved that with this deal. It provides the basis from which Leeds United can move forward to a position which will enable it once again to compete at the highest levels of football. “That is where this great club belongs and it is nothing less than its fans deserve. Throughout the difficult years, as well as the glory years, they have remained second to none in their support of the club and we as a Board have always appreciated their passion. “Following the introduction to GFH to the Cellino family which owns Eleonora Sport Limited it quickly became apparent that the family and the company offered both the long term investment and the footballing knowledge necessary to take their place as majority owners of Leeds United. “Everyone on the Board is looking forward to working with our new partners who we hope will be in place at Elland Road very soon.” Gulf Finance House chief executive Hisham Alrayes said: “It has always been our aim since taking over Leeds United to create an ownership structure through partnership with like-minded strategic investors who would help us take the club forward on a long term and sustainable basis. “It has taken us some time to get the right deal in place with people who truly shared our commitment to, and faith in, the future of Leeds United. “We are delighted to have reached agreement with Massimo Cellino and Eleonora Sport Ltd who share our determination to move the club forward. “Despite media and market speculation, we have refrained from making any official comment on this matter until this point when contracts have been exchanged. “We understand that the speculation has been unsettling for the fans and, even though it was not of our making, we apologise to them for that. We are happy now to inform them of the accurate position with regard to the new ownership which will, we believe, enable the club to achieve promotion in the shortest realistic time possible. “GFH Capital and its investors continue to show its commitment to Leeds United through the minority 25 per cent shareholding we will be retaining.”

Leeds United face winding up Order

According to a report in the Financial Times Leeds United's shirt sponsors Enterprise Insurance have made a move to wind up the company.Enterprise, whose managing director Andrew Flowers is a failed bidder, has filed a winding-up petition for the Championship club over an alleged unpaid debt. It will be heard in the High Court in March.The Gibraltar-based insurer issued the petition on January 29, a day after talks with Sport Capital, a consortium including Mr Flowers, a life-long Leeds fan, and David Haigh, managing director of Leeds, collapsed.The move appears designed to prevent a sale to Massimo Cellino, owner of Cagliari, the Italian top flight club, who clinched an agreement to buy 75 per cent of Leeds on Friday. Since then, the manager, Brian McDermott, has been sacked and reinstated, and Mr Cellino’s lawyer, Chris Farnell, has been asked to leave Leeds’ Elland Road base. GFH Capital, the Bahraini investor seeking to sell the bulk of its stake in the club, has reiterated that it remains in charge. In debt proceedings, courts potentially have the power to reverse the sale of assets, freeze bank accounts and even order an administration or liquidation. Leeds, which has had a difficult financial history, entered administration in 2007, with £35m in debts. Mr Cellino has applied to the Football League to pass its “fit and proper person” test required of club owners. Leeds city council, which owns the club’s training ground, has also written to the league calling for a “thorough vetting” of Mr Cellino.Enterprise has apparently scrapped its shirt sponsorship of the club. In 2012 it lent Leeds £1.7m at 7 per cent interest for repayment in 2015. Mike Smith, a corporate insolvency expert from Jameson Smith, said the insurers’ move was “risky”, since the debt must be proved in law or costs could be awarded against it. Unless settled, the petition must also be advertised in the London Gazette. “Other creditors can use the same petition to pursue their own debts so I suspect it is solely being used as a bargaining chip to apply pressure to the board of Leeds United,” he said. Mr Flowers has reportedly joined a third bidding consortium, which includes Adam Pearson, former Hull City chairman, Mike Farnan, ex-Sunderland marketing director, and Gary Verity, who runs Welcome to Yorkshire, a tourism promotion agency. They are understood to be offering around £30m in staged payments. GFH bought Leeds in December 2012 for £17m from Ken Bates, the former Chelsea owner.

Confirmed Leeds United Takeover has Collapsed

The takeover of Leeds United by Sport Capital has collapsed owing to a lack of "financial backing", leaving the club's future unresolved and uncertain amid speculation that two separate groups remain interested. Leeds managing director and head of the Sport Capital consortium, David Haigh, released a statement on today stating that it was unable to complete a deal despite two months ago agreeing to purchase a 75% stake in the club from the owners Gulf Finance House. Haigh claimed he and Sport Capital had "injected substantial sums into the club to ensure its viability" but earlier in the week fellow consortium member Andrew Flowers, the managing director of Leeds' shirt sponsor Enterprise Insurance, stated that GFH had "breached their covenant with us" after inviting a rival bid from Massimo Cellino, the president of the Serie A club Cagliari. Cellino has been strongly linked with a takeover although another consortium are also reportedly interested in securing a majority shareholding in the club.Haigh's statement read: "We signed a share acquisition agreement with GFH Capital at the end of last year. This meant, I believed, that we were in a position to move things forward and complete the transaction in time for the January transfer window. "Unfortunately, however, some of the consortium's backers ultimately didn't feel able to deliver the financial backing we had hoped was agreed to take the club forward. "I have met many, many potential investors over the past year and, sadly, while many are keen to talk the talk, they have been unable or unwilling to deliver in financial terms."

Leeds Takeover Looks Doomed

The consortium bidding to take control at Elland Road has accused Leeds' owners Gulf Finance House of reneging on a deal to sell it 75 per cent of the club's shares.Sport Capital, headed by Leeds' current managing director David Haigh and Andrew Flowers, the managing director of their main sponsors, Enterprise Insurance, had agreed the terms of a buy-out with GFH on November 30. The consortium had expected the deal to go through in time for funds to be made available for manager Brian McDermott ahead of the January transfer window. But after undertaking due diligence Sport Capital revised its offer and negotiations between the two parties have broken down. In a further twist, Sport Capital has also questioned GFH's "11th-hour decision" to open talks with controversial Italian Massimo Cellino, the owner of Serie A club Cagliari. Flowers said in a statement: "We are convinced this will not be in the interests of the club, the manager, the players or the fans. "We must ask the question whether the prospective preferred bidder understands anything about the culture of Leeds United, its fans, its heritage or British football. "We were fully justified in revising our bid because a number of things have come to light which were not as originally described. "However, as lifelong fans we believe our offer and plans were in the best interests of the club and its loyal supporters. "This boils down to much more than money, but GFH have chosen to ignore that. "We believe the owners have breached their covenant with us, but much more importantly they have breached their covenant with the fans." Bahrain-based investment firm GFH took control of the club from former chairman Ken Bates 12 months ago and has made no secret of its intention to attract further investors. Cellino, 57, whose representatives have recently been seen at the club's Thorp Arch training complex, was arrested in February last year and charged with embezzlement and false representation in connection with the rebuilding of Cagliari's Is Arenas stadium and is currently awaiting trial.

Cellino Joins Sports Capital's Leeds Bid

Cagliari Chairman Massimo Cellino is set to join forces with Sport Capital to complete a takeover of Leeds United.Reports in the Italian press yesterday suggested the Italian had launch a rival bid appear wide of the mark.Massimo had in fact been in talks with Sports Capital ,a consortium led by Leeds managing director David Haigh with a view to joining and investing with them.It is understood that Cellino has held talks with Haigh and Andrew Flowers, another of Sport Capital’s members.Sport Capital agreed to buy a majority share(75%) in Leeds on November 30, with GFH relinquishing its position as owner and retaining a 10 per cent stake, but disagreements over unspecified issues prompted renewed negotiations this week.

Leeds United take over Close to Collapse?

Sport Capital's bid to take a 75% share in Leeds United looks to be close to collapse as the consortium and current owners GFH wrangle over details.

GFH Capital bought the club in December 2012 from Ken Bates but they recently announced that they would be selling all but a 10 percent stake in the club, which would remain with Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House - their parent company. It had been announced that 75 percent would be sold to a consortium of British investors (Sport Capital) led by United managing director David Haigh.

Sport Capital were thought to have completed a deal in time to provide transfer funds for Brian McDermott It's been reported today that the deal is far from sealed and there could even be a rival offer from the owner of Serie A club Cagliari. Italian press are reporting that the Sardinian club's owner Massimo Cellino has made a last minute bid to hijack Sport Capital's bid.

In an interview earlier this week, the Isolani chief refused to rule out potentially bidding for the Yorkshire club, and the Italian press reported on Wednesday that a deal is close. Cellino, 57, was reported to have bid unsuccessfully for West Ham in 2010, and in 20 years at Cagliari has sacked 36 managers.

GFH sell 10% stake in Leeds United

Leeds United's owners, GFH Capital, have sold a 10 per cent stake in the club to Bahrain-based International Investment Bank. There has been uncertainty over GFH Capital's intentions for the club, with some suggestions that they were looking to sell up completely. However it appears GFH is recruiting "strategic investors" to strengthen the club's financial position, which it believes is necessary if Leeds are to regain their former status as a Premier League giant. IIB's chief executive, Aabed Al-Zeera, will join the Board of Leeds City Holdings Limited. David Haigh, deputy chief executive of GFH Capital, said: "The introduction of IIB is in keeping with what have always been GFH Capital's aims for the successful, sustainable and long term ownership of Leeds United FC. "We believe that a consortium of like-minded investors provides the best ownership model for a club which belongs among the elite of English football clubs and global sporting brands. "It is our aim to provide the finance and the stability to enable the club to complete that journey as soon as possible." GFH expects other investors to join, providing Leeds with "sound long-term finance", said the club. International Investment Bank B.S.C was launched as an Islamic Investment Bank in October 2003. On its website, IIB states the "core business activities of the Bank include investing on its own account and investment, underwriting and placement in real estate and private equity in conformity with Islamic Shari'ah". Al-Zeera said: "We are delighted to become investors in Leeds United and would like to thank GFH Capital for facilitating this for us." GFH Capital took control of the club from Ken Bates last December and claims to have already invested £10million in the Elland Road outfit, beyond the sum it took to acquire ordinary shares in the first place. Amongst the benefits of GFH's ownership, fans have already seen a reduction in match ticket prices, the introduction of half season tickets and a reduction cost of season tickets for 2013-14.