Manchester City have been taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment.
A statement released to PA Sport on behalf of group representative Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim confirmed that a deal has been agreed between Al-Fahim and City's owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
And they wasted no time in flexing their financial muscles - the new owners lodged a lodged a £30 million bid for the services of Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov, and that bid has been accepted.
Dr Al-Fahim has also revealed that they have made bids for Valencia's David Villa and Stuttgart's Mario Gomez.
Read more about these transfer developments here.
The deal between Shinawatra and the Abu Dhabi Group was completed early on Monday afternoon, and no financial details were initially revealed in the statement, which was released by Samir Al-Neel, media and public relations manager at Hydra Properties.
Dr Khalid Kadfour Al-Muhairy, the head of the Emirates Group for advocate and legal consultants was also involved in the negotiations, the statement confirmed.
Al-Fahim is chief executive of Hydra Properties.
'The investment services and development in Abu Dhabi, has successfully completed the huge takeover of the English club (Manchester City), one of the most prominent and oldest English clubs,' the statement read.
The statement added that Shinawatra will retain a role as 'honorary president of the club without any administrative responsibilities'.
The statement from Hydra added that the deal was signed at Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace Hotel, and the deal was considered a 'massive achievement for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi'.
It continued: 'By engaging into sport's investment, Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment aims to reinforce Abu Dhabi's position as a capital of both sport and economic (development), through...supporting the Emirate's sports and attracting the world's attention to UAE through this purchase of one of the oldest English clubs.
'The company believes this step will open new horizons for the talented and gifted nationals...to develop their skills.'
Al-Fahim said: 'We in Abu Dhabi United Company for Development and Investment keen deep concern for ways to provide support and care for various sports activities to help build and develop a new generation...which represents the real wealth and the future of this nation and the cornerstone for building the future of our civilisation.'
The statement also said that Al-Fahim had pledged to 'solve all the club problems and clear any pending payments, and will comprehensively support the club by bringing the best football players in the world' to Eastlands.
Success in the Barclays Premier League, but also 'European and world level' would be the aim, with 'the qualification of Manchester City to the European Champions League (for) next season 2009-10' also highlighted in the statement.
Al-Fahim added: 'We will adopt marketing plans that reflect positively on the club and the company.'
Al-Fahim admitted that City are in a race against time to bring in players before the transfer deadline in a few hours' time, but added that significant investment is sure to follow in the winter transfer window.
‘The three players we are trying to bring in are good players, but it has been difficult because we only started (takeover) negotiations a couple of weeks ago,’ Al-Fahim added.
‘We haven't had a lot of time, but our idea is to bring in more players during the next transfer window.
‘I don't want to put a figure on what will be available (for squad strengthening), like £100million, because more than that might be needed.’
Al-Fahim also gave his backing to manager Mark Hughes, who is set to benefit from the huge transfer kitty available.
‘We are happy with him,’ Al-Fahim added. ‘We need to sit down with him and discuss his targets. He has our support and we will give him the authority to sign the players he wants to sign.’
