Birmingham council leaders are in talks with Middle East sovereign funds, hoping to plug a budget hole selling some of the billions of pounds of trophy assets owned by Britain's second city.
The NEC -- Britain's biggest exhibition centre, prime real estate and a stake in Birmingham Airport could all be up for grabs, councillors said, as they look to fund big capital projects at a time when the national government is demanding deep spending cuts.
Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council which represents over 1 million people and describes itself as Europe's biggest local authority, said he had been approached by sovereign wealth funds and was talking with the Abu Dhabi government as he tried to forge closer ties to the Middle East.
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