Khouri does it again: bids Dh11m for plate number 7

Abu Dhabi: The Emirati who made it to the record books by buying the costliest number plate in the world yesterday took centre stage again when he became the highest bidder for number 7.

Talal Ali Mohammad Khouri, a businessman and member of the board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, paid Dh11 million for the single-digit number last night at the Emirates Palace Hotel.

The atmosphere was charged as some people in the auction expected to bid against Khouri. There was also talk that bidding for number 7 would go higher than the Dh25.25 million Khouri paid last time for number 5.

But yesterday's auction held by the Abu Dhabi Police and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank only attracted 100 people. A senior officer from the Ministry of Interior said the reason was that many people had left the UAE for their summer holidays. The police auctioned 52 number plates yesterday which fetched Dh45 million.

Khouri was happy he got the numbers he wanted. The businessman also bid and won number 50, for which he paid Dh3 million. "I am happy since this is for a good cause," he said.

Charity

The money collected will go to an unspecified charity and also help rehabilitate people who have been injured in traffic accidents.

Two other numbers which fetched high prices were 66 and 97 which received bids for Dh3.35 million and Dh3 million respectively.

A representative of the MK group paid Dh360,000 and Dh400,000 for numbers 786 and 544 respectively.