Gulf Finance House (GFH) has confirmed a deal to sell a partial stake in Leeds United to a consortium of British investors is close to completion.

The Islamic bank, headquartered in Bahrain, was responding to “extraordinary” trading in its shares on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and Dubai Financial Market yesterday (14 January 2014) and said the imminent deal was the only material event which could have sparked this activity.

A consortium, led by Leeds United’s managing director David Haigh, is awaiting approval from the Football Association before it can complete its acquisition.

Last week, it was confirmed that the group, which will acquire a majority shareholding later this month, includes Andrew Flowers, the current managing director of the club’s main sponsor Enterprise Insurance.

Sport Capital, a consortium involving David Haigh, Flowers and others, will take a minimum 75 per cent stakeholding in the Championship club.

It has been funding the club during the transactional period and will continue to do so ahead of completion.

The investors have ensured that there are funds in place for the January transfer window and said they were working closely with manager Brian McDermott regarding his plans.