Type Private Key people Hisham Alrayes (CEO) | Founded 1999 | |
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Divisions Wealth ManagementCommercial BankingAsset ManagementReal Estate Investment CEO Hisham Ahmed Al-Rayes (17 Dec 2013–) Profiles | ||
GFH Financial Group, previously known as Gulf Finance House, is an Islamic investment bank with headquarters in Bahrain Financial Harbour, Bahrain.
Contents
- History of GFH
- Services
- Real Estate Development Projects
- Corporate Investment Projects
- Real Estate Investment
- References
One of its most notable investments is a 25% stake in the UK Football League Championship club Leeds United through their wholly owned subsidiary, Dubai-based GFH Capital, having initially acquired 100% ownership of the club from Ken Bates in December 2012. 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.
History of GFH
GFH was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1999 under a license granted by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Since its inception, GFH raised over US$5 billion of investments. The bank carries on its business activities in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sharia, including financial services investment and commercial transaction, negotiable financial instrument, real estate and infrastructure; in addition to structured finance, securities and liquidity management designed to achieve profitable returns for investors.
GFH was transferred to a Public Shareholding Company in 2004 with its shares being listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange, Kuwait Stock Exchange and Dubai Financial Market. In 2007, GFH listed its GDR’s on the London Stock Exchange.
In November 2014, GFH released a new identity when it moved from being an investment bank to a financial group. The new name for the group was GFH Financial Group.
Services
GFH's business lines cover aspects of financial services from financial and investments to commercial banking operations. GFH's range of activities are Real Estate Development, Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and Asset Management. GFH splits its asset management activities into two areas: Corporate Investment & Real Estate Investment.