Ken Bates: Don’t blame me for Leeds takeover delay

GFH Capital have been in talks with the Elland Road hierarchy for four months over a possible buyout but despite a series of positive statements from both sides in recent weeks, any agreement has remained unsigned.

On Saturday, United chairman Ken Bates spoke of his frustration at the hold-ups in an interview broadcast on the club’s in-house TV station ahead of the derby win over Barnsley.

He also told fans not to place the blame for the drawn-out saga at his door.

Instead, Bates pointed an accusing finger at the lawyers working on behalf of GFH Capital, a subsidary of Gulf Finance House, for the delays.

The Leeds chief, who like GFH Capital is restricted in what he can say publicly by a confidentiality agreement, said: “The real problem is their lawyers because this is a straightforward deal, by anyone’s standards.

“I don’t know what the delay is, they appear to try and make complications when there is no need to do so.

“I understand the share purchase is 171 pages long,” he continued. “GFH want to complete a deal and we are happy to do a deal with them. But when last-minute things are slipped in, it makes things very difficult.

“By GFH’s standards, this is not a big deal.

“So, I say to Leeds fans, ‘Don’t blame me’.”

Contacted over the weekend for a response, a source close to GFH Capital insisted that, from the company’s point of view, “The deal is in a good place”.

The source then added: “Delaying the deal would serve no purpose and it is not in GFH Capital’s interests to take any longer than necessary.

“The lawyers on both sides have work to do because, needless to say, there is a process involved in buying a football club. To claim otherwise would be crazy.

“But GFH Capital wants this to happen and the money is there to make it happen. It is in everyone’s interests to get the deal done as soon as possible.”

A possible takeover has dominated the news agenda at Elland Road for several months with interest from a Middle East group having first emerged as long ago as February.

Not linked in any way to GFH, they soon fell by the wayside to be replaced by a North American consortium who toured both Elland Road and the club’s Thorp Arch training ground. Talks stalled, however, to leave the field clear for GFH to become involved.

An exclusivity period was granted to the firm on June 26 to undertake due diligence but this ran out in August with no agreement having been reached.

Since then, though, dialogue has continued and GFH deputy chief executive David Haigh was again at Elland Road for the Barnsley game as a guest of Bates.