The Royal Emirates Group of Companies wouldn't say exactly how much it paid for the topflight Spanish club. But Kaiser Rafiq, a partner and managing director of the business conglomerate, said the price ranged from $100 to $130 million.

The group, chaired by Sheik Butti bin Suhail Al Maktoum, said the club's name will remain unchanged but “Team Dubai” will be added to the team shirts, stadium and other merchandise.

“We are really glad today to be witnessing this great moment,” Sheik Butti said. “We are really happy and glad to sign this contract with Spain's first division Getafe.

We are also happy to include the name Team Dubai. I hope this will improve relations between the UAE and Spain.” The deal is aimed at further lifting the profile of the indebted Gulf sheikdom, which has used high-profile tennis and golf tournaments to lure tourists to its glitzy malls and five-star hotels.

Al Maktoum is the latest Middle East investor to buy a European club, after Abu Dhabi's Sheik Mansour took over English side Manchester City in 2008 and a Qatar sheik purchased Spanish club Malaga in June.

There have also been reports in recent months that the Qatari royal family was considering a bid for Manchester United, but the Glazer family owners say they don't want to sell the Premier League club.

Getafe was founded in 1945 but has only been in Spain's top flight since being promoted for the 2004-2005 season.

Since then, it has lost two Copa del Rey finals. Last season, Getafe finished sixth in the league.

This season the modest Madrid club has struggled, winning only one of its last 10 games and is currently four points above the relegation zone.

Sheik Butti's name suggests he is a member of Dubai's ruling Al Maktoum dynasty. He is not among the family's most prominent members or part of the ruler's inner circle, which runs Dubai's hereditary government.

Little is known about the Royal Emirates Group of Companies.

Its corporate website offers few details except that the conglomerate has interests in 64 companies and brands - though it doesn't list any of them. The company shares its phone number with a roommate referral service in the city-state, and has said its businesses include operations in the oil and gas and real estate sectors.

Royal Emirates and its club bid are not believed to have direct ties to Dubai's government or its ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The sale comes as the sheikdom is grappling with a prolonged slump in its once red-hot real estate market.

Earlier this week, the Dubai Group was seeking to renegotiate the terms on its $10 billion debt - $4 billion of which is more than previously divulged.

The disclosure highlights the serious financial challenges and transparency problems still facing Dubai despite its success in renegotiating the terms on $25 billion of state-linked debt.

The group has not publicly commented on the higher debt tally, which was also reported on Tuesday by the Emirati government-owned daily The National among other publications.

Dubai and its many government-controlled companies still owe more than $100 billion, though the exact size of the debt has never been disclosed