 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| BHSE:GFH DFM: GFH | |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Bahrain Financial Harbour, , |
Area served | Middle East |
Key people | Hisham Alrayes (CEO) |
| Services | Investment banking |
| Divisions | Wealth Management Commercial Banking Asset Management Real estate investment |
| Subsidiaries | GFH Capital |
| Website | gfh |
GFH Financial Group, previously known as Gulf Finance House, is an Islamic investment bank with headquarters in Bahrain Financial Harbour, Bahrain.[1]
One of its most notable investments was a 25% stake in the English football club Leeds United[2] through their wholly owned subsidiary, Dubai-based GFH Capital, having initially acquired 100% ownership of the club from Ken Bates in December 2012.[3] On 7 February 2014 GFH Capital announced that they had exchanged contracts for the sale of Leeds to Massimo Cellino's family consortium 'Eleonora Sport Ltd'. The deal saw the Cellino family acquire a 75% ownership of the club in April 2014 after winning an appeal against the Football League's decision initially to block the sale.[4] When Andrea Radrizan bought the club, GFH sold all of their shares in Leeds United in May of 2017. Salem Patel, a non executive director of GFH, created an account on a popular Leeds United fan forum, named ‘Melas’ (Salem, backwards) to ask question about signing players and to share positive news about GFH with the fans. This was exposed fairly quickly and fans protested against their ownership and the ownership of Massimo Cellino on many occasions including marches and mock funerals outside of the club’s stadium.
- ^ "GFH New Brand". Gulf Daily News. 22 Nov 2014.
- ^ "Cellino given go-ahead to purchase Leeds United". Reuters. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
- ^ "Leeds United: GFH Capital completes takeover". BBC. 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Leeds United: Massimo Cellino wins takeover appeal". BBC. 5 April 2014.