Egyptian businessmen Assem and Ehab Allam have completed their takeover of Hull City, the English second-division side announced on Friday. "The protracted deal was completed at 10.45pm on Thursday night and sees the local businessmen take outright control of the two companies (Hull City AFC and the Stadium Management Company)," the club said in a statement on their website. Father Assem and son Ehab succeeded former chairman Russell Bartlett, who endured hard times due to Hull's mounting financial problems. The Tigers were relegated from the Premier League last season and risked going into administration. "I'm very pleased that in the end we managed to do the deal," Assem Allam, who is now the chairman of Hull, said. "We've had some hard times over the last few weeks but I am very pleased to achieve my ambition of giving a present to the Hull City fans and the citizens of Hull and the East Riding. "We will be leaving the football to the specialists…we will be trying to remove many obstacles to get onto the right track." It is the second time for an English club to be owned by Egyptians; the first of which was in 1997 when Mohamed Al-Fayed bought Fulham. Egypt striker Amr Zaki spent an unfruitful six-month loan period at the KC Stadium last term. Hull, who are managed by Nigel Pearson, lie 19th in the 24-team Championship table after 20 matches.
