Coach Liverpool Football Club Rafael Benitez welcomed the offer to buy the team for 450 million pounds ($ 900 million), received from an investment fund from Dubai. The transaction is expected to be completed early next year.
Investment Fund Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) has confirmed reports of negotiations regarding the sale of the team. Liverpool, the five-time European champion and one of the leading clubs in the English Premier League, has opened DIC access to all the club's financial statements, which could be a prelude to a deal. It is assumed that the proposed amount includes 200 million pounds for the construction of a new stadium with 60 thousand seats.
The Merseyside coach believes that "it is always good for a club to have more money and more opportunities." In turn, DIC CEO Samir Ansari said that the “investment needs of Liverpool are well known,” and the fund is ready to provide the club both on the field and beyond. The completion of the transaction is expected in early 2007.
DIC is an investment unit of Dubai Holding, owned by the ruler of the emirate of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Maktum, reports the BBC. Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, the prime minister of which is also Sheikh Mohammed. His personal fortune, according to some estimates, is $ 10 billion. DIC is actively investing in various companies around the world. In the United Kingdom, the fund’s acquisitions include the Travelodge hotel chain and the Tussauds Group bought last year, which owns Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London, the world's tallest London Eye, and a number of tourist-oriented attractions.
In previous years, Liverpool tried to buy the American billionaire Robert Kraft, ousted from power in a military coup, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and owner of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team George Gillet. In recent years, a number of Premier League clubs have been bought by foreigners. Among them - Chelsea, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, West Ham and Fulham.