Abu Dhabi's Aabar has no plans for AS Roma bid

Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Aabar Investments has not made an offer for Italian football club A.S. Roma and has no plans to do so, it said on Wednesday.

The indebted Roma club has been on the market for months with creditor bank Unicredit and owners the Sensi family now close to deciding who to sell it to.

There has been speculation about a number of offers for the club, including a bid from Aaber.

But the Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle called those reports "unfounded."

"I can confirm that the recent talks and press speculation about Aabar's interest to buy AS Roma are unfounded," Aabar Chief Executive Mohamed Al-Husseiny said in a statement.

"Aabar has not submitted a bid to acquire Roma and does not intend to do so in the future."

Aabar, whose portfolio includes stakes in Italian banking giant UniCredit and Virgin Group's space travel unit Galactic, said it had not taken part in the auction bid process.

"Aabar ... wishes to distance itself from such rumours, also in the interest of a proper and fair auction sale process of the Italian football club," the statement said.

A US consortium led by Thomas DiBenedetto and Italian businessman Giampaolo Angelucci have also been linked with offers for the club.

International Petroleum Investment Corporation, or IPIC, wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, is the majority shareholder in Aabar.

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