Reds in Dubai

[desertscouser]

The Irish Village

[Hansi]

She turned up again in the shoutbox today:

[IceQueen] i'm back....!!!

Haven't posted anything though.

[cobain]

Well... If you must know...

Wealth:

Roman Abramovič: $18.2 BILLION
Mohamed Rashid Maktoum: $27.8 BILLION which is around £14 billion



and by the way...

Mittal's event almost rivals what is considered to be the most extravagant wedding of modern time. The 1981 wedding of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who recently became the ruler of Dubai, to Princess Salama, earned that honor with its $44.5 million ($100 million in today's dollars) price tag. His family built a stadium big enough to hold 20,000 people for the celebration, which lasted an astounding seven days--hopefully long enough for the couple to greet all the guests. A quarter of a century later, it is still listed as the most expensive wedding in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Roman can kiss Sheikh's arse! hehe

[cobain]

And also something to read if you're bored

London -

The English may like to watch soccer, but they don't seem to want to own their own Premier League teams -- at least not as much as overseas investors do.

To wit: Chelsea was sold to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £60 million ($119 million) in June 2003. In the summer of 2005, Tampa Bay-based tycoon Malcolm Glazer completed a hostile £800 million takeover of Manchester United. Earlier this year, Russian businessman Alexandre Gaydamak was inducted as a partner to Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric. In August, the board of underachieving U.K. soccer club Aston Villa recommended that shareholders accept billionaire Randolph Lerner's £62.6 million ($118 million) bid for the Midlands-based outfit. Three months later, West Ham United announced that it had reached an agreement with a consortium headed by Icelandic businessman Eggert Magnusson for the sale of the club, worth £85 million ($168.3 million).

Now Liverpool has confirmed exclusive talks are taking place with Dubai International Capital about a possible takeover of the club. DIC has apparently been given permission to conduct due diligence and it is expected to submit a formal offer soon after Christmas.

The offer is expected to be for a total of £450 million ($890.8 million). Around £170 million ($336.5 million) of that sum will be used to take a controlling stake in the club, £80 million ($158.4 million) to cover existing debts and £200 million ($395.9 million) to go towards a new stadium.

Dubai International Capital is one of half a dozen private equity firms buying up investments around the world on behalf of Dubai Holdings, which is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.

Racing enthusiast Sheikh Mohammed became Dubai's 10th ruler upon his older brother's death in January. He is credited with transforming the tiny emirate into an aviation, business and tourist hub and helping to expand its gross domestic product to about $40 billion this year from $8 billion in 1994.

Dubai International Capital recently bought London's Tussauds Group, a stake in DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) and aerospace company Doncasters, plus real estate in the U.S. Its purchase of P&O Group and consequent bid to manage six key U.S. ports sparked controversy in the United States and forced Dubai to back away from the U.S. port portion of the deal in March. It is estimated that a substantial portion of Sheikh Mohammed's fortune, which he shares with two brothers, comes from the government's stakes in banks, aluminum and real estate companies.

Sameer al-Ansari, Dubai International Capital's chief executive, said in a statement: "Liverpool's investment requirements are well publicized. We hope we can agree a deal that will provide us with the opportunity to fund its needs both on and off the pitch."

Liverpool Chief Executive Rick Parry said: "This is the latest step on the road of finding the long-term investment that the club needs."

Several names have also been bandied about over the last couple of years in connection with Liverpool, including U.K. building magnate Steve Morgan, the recently deposed Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, Hollywood-based film producer Mike Jefferies and U.S. billionaire and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.