Following Lakshmi Mittal’s unsuccessful bid to take control at Loftus Road, London based investment Bank Seymour Pierce were said to have been recruited to find a buyer after they apparently approached Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. Then, last Thursday, the following statement was issued on behalf of QPR Holdings Limited:
‘On 4th March 2011 the Company (QPR Holdings Limited) announced that it was in preliminary discussions with a potential purchaser.
At the time the Takeover Panel confirmed that should those discussions result in an offer being made for the Company, the offer would be subject to the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the Code), even if such an offer was made after 2nd April 2011, being the date on which the Company ceased to be to the Code, due to it being de-listed 10 years previously.
The Company confirms that these discussions came to an end in March 2011.
Since the end of these discussions, the Company has entered into preliminary discussions with a different party and can confirm that these discussions and any subsequent transaction would not be subject to the Code.
Accordingly the Company confirms that it is no longer in an offer period for the purposes of the Code.
We will be making no further comment at this stage.’
Soon, a new name emerged, Tony Fernandes, the Malaysian entrepreneur and owner of AirAsia. It is known that he is a Hammers fan who had made an offer to the West Ham Board which David Sullivan and David Gold had rejected.
Latest reports claim that he will soon become a majority shareholder at QPR with a 51% stake. Apparently he even flew over to Italy on Saturday to meet Neil Warnock and to discuss his plans.
Steve Russell