Ownership and finances Queens Park Rangers F.C.

british music, media , sport entrepreneur chris wright bought qpr in 1996, relinquishing majority shareholding in 2001 having ploughed £20 million loftus road on previous 5 years; club struggled financially , went administration same year. following lengthy negotiations in december 2004, wright agreed sell remaining 15% stake; 50% of money paid him given qpr, significant amount of cash club.

after number of years of financial difficulties included period in financial administration, qpr bought formula 1 tycoons , multi-millionaires bernie ecclestone , flavio briatore in £14 million takeover in august 2007. in spending £690,000 acquire 69% majority stake in club monaco-based consortium led italian football agent, antonio caliendo, ecclestone spent £150,000 on 15%, while briatore bought 54% £540,000 through british virgin islands registered company, sarita capital. in addition, briatore , ecclestone believed have promised £5 million in convertible loan facilities buy players , have covered £13 million of debt, in total commitment club of around £20 million. @ time of purchase, remaining 31% of shareholders turned down offer of 1p share.

on 20 december 2007, announced family of billionaire lakshmi mittal had purchased 20% shareholding in club flavio briatore. purchase price of 20% stake £200,000. part of investment lakshmi mittal s son-in-law amit bhatia took place on board of directors. while gianni paladini remained chairman of football club, alejandro agag, chairman of qpr holdings (the parent company) de facto chairman, until replaced flavio briatore in february 2008. agag moved role of managing director, supported deputy managing director, ali russell, moved hearts in scottish premier league.

despite qpr s perilous financial condition in 2007–08, combined personal wealth of club s new owners – included world s eighth richest man, lakshmi mittal – sparked speculation qpr receive significant further investment new benefactors, drawing parallels wealthy west london neighbours chelsea , fulham. however, no significant further funds made available club other injected part of purchase of share capital, , of subsequent player transfer activity involved loan acquisitions or free transfers. indeed, reported in january 2008 investors had not discharged £10 million loan abc corporation – secured on club s stadium – £1 million annual interest burden—despite club s prospective annual turnover of between £10 million , £15 million. furthermore, around £2 million still owed former director , major shareholder, antonio caliendo, waived £4.5 million of loans when briatore , ecclestone bought club. expected abc loan discharged in june 2008 on maturity , debt owed caliendo paid off in 2008 in line funding strategy ecclestone publicly stated not result in wealthy owners bankrolling club. in fact, abc loan discharged on or around 31 july 2008.

mittal s investment thought motivated son-in-law s interests , assumed mittal himself remain silent investor while briatore, ecclestone , bhatia worked implement strategy of building club ahead of push promotion premier league in 2009. new owners pledged refurbish loftus road , use experience in formula 1 increase sponsorship revenues. on 25 march 2008, qpr confirmed that, 2008–09 season , 5 seasons, kits supplied lotto sport italia part of number of new partnerships formed flavio briatore. investment potential of club s new backers resulted in number of wildly speculative storylines in football press throughout 2007–08 season, including rumoured signings of former world player of year winners luís figo , zinedine zidane, latter possible manager.

in may 2008, billionaire vijay mallya linked buying club, part of ecclestone, briatore , mittal consortium. following termination of club s sponsorship deals car giant, le coq sportif , sellotape @ end of 2007–08 season, in july 2008 expected announced gulf air new shirt sponsors 3 years. further sponsorship packages announced, including abbey financial services , lotto sport italia. on 12 september 2011, malaysia airlines , airasia announced sponsorship of qpr’s shirts 2 seasons, sponsorship costing £6.2 million.

tony fernandes chairman of queens park rangers

flavio briatore s future qpr chairman came question in september 2009 after left renault f1 team in midst of race fixing allegations. football league board discussed matter on 8 october 2009 , declared awaiting response briatore various questions before commenting further. meanwhile, club continued make losses (£18.8m in 2008–09 , £13.7m 2009–10). briatore sold 62% share ecclestone in december 2010, italian possibly retaining right of first refusal should ecclestone sell, , stepped day-to-day running of business in favour of amit bhatia , ishan saksena, company chairman , managing director respectively. however, involvement gradually returned, , conflicts between briatore on 1 hand , bhatia , saksena on other resulted in both bhatia , saksena leaving qpr in may 2011.

on 18 august 2011, malaysian businessman tony fernandes unveiled majority shareholder after having bought out ecclestone s then-66% stake in club rumoured fee of around ₤35 million, while mittal family retained 33% stake. amit bhatia restored position vice-chairman. phillip beard announced new chief executive of club , gianni paladini removed club chairman. briatore , ecclestone no longer involved club, no board representation or other financial ties. bhatia explained in takeover announcement loan, representing refinanced abc corporation debt secured using stadium collateral, had been bought off new regime -that is, refinanced new debt. thought current debt represented shareholder loan club , non-interest-bearing. despite club s fortunes in attracting investors, continues mired in controversy previous ownership regimes , has been subject proceedings former investors carlos dunga , antonio caliendo.

the club has variety of other sponsors , partners, include smarkets (primary), dryworld (technical), carlsberg, skyex, land-fx, bt, metro bank, infiniti & bmi.