UAE | Traffic and Transport
Car number plate fetches Dh8m in auction for charity
Car number plate 11 fetched Dh8 million in a charity auction conducted by Abu Dhabi Police on Saturday evening.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:31 November 25, 2007
- Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
- Saeed Al Khouri (right), who bought the most sought after number 11 for Dh8 million, is seen with his brother Hamdan Al Khouri, at the auction conducted by the Abu Dhabi Police at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Saturday evening.
Abu Dhabi: Car number plate 11 fetched Dh8 million in a charity auction conducted by Abu Dhabi Police on Saturday evening.
Saeed Al Khouri, 25, won the number '11' after competing with his relative, Talal Ali Mohammad Khouri.
The latter is a businessman who had bid for the plate numbers with the highest price during the last three auctions and had bought number 5 for Dh25 million, which holds a Guinness World Record as the most expensive number plate.
Saeed Al Khouri told Gulf News he is a student and bought the number on behalf of his father Abdul Ghafar Abdul Khaleq Al Khouri, a businessman in Abu Dhabi. "We were determined to purchase number 11 and my father had given me a blank cheque for it," said Saeed.
Talal Ali Mohammad Khouri told Gulf News he voluntarily left the number to Saeed as he is a close relative. "I already hold number 10 which was bought for Dh4.5 million in the last auction. So I thought let my relative take number 11," he said.
He purchased some more expensive numbers in the auction like 80 (for Dh2.9 million) and 67 (for Dh2 million). He had purchased other numbers like 400 for Dh800,000, 636 (for Dh400,000), 5544 (for Dh112,000), 5050 (for Dh295,000), and 8338 (for Dh900,000)).
The other numbers which fetched more than a million were 24 for Dh3.15 million, 74 (for Dh2 million), 91 (for Dh2 million), 56 (for Dh2.05 million) and 77777 (for Dh1.2 million).
The fourth auction attracted 450 participants, the highest number after its introduction and generated Dh41.87 million for about 100 number plates, a senior official told Gulf News.
"The four auctions so far generated about Dh188 million and the entire money will go to charity," said Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Rahman M. Ali Al Kamali, Director of Administration of Privatisation and Financial Investments at Ministry of Interior.
Customer request
He said the next auction will be held on December 15 in which no single or two digit numbers will be available.
"People can put the numbers they wish to purchase on our website (www.emiratesauction.ae) with their contact numbers for the next auction also," said Abdullah Mattar, Managing Director of Emirates Auction.
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