QPR Set for Takeover: New owners to be Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone

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[For more re Flavio Briatore, see Flavio Briatore/Wikipedia and Flavio Briatore Website. For more re Bernie Ecclestone, see Bernie Ecclestone/Wikpedia. Ecclestone and Briatore were recently reported to have been interested in buying Arsenal and before that(pre-Abromovich) buying Chelsea (but obviously wanted only the best!).


Daily Mail - Overtaking? No, taking over as Ecclestone and Briatore plan QPR swoop EXCLUSIVE: By MATT LAWTON -

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is set to buy Queens Park Rangers, Sportsmail can reveal.
Ecclestone, worth £2.25billion and the 20th richest man in Britain, has linked up with Renault F1 chief Flavio Briatore to acquire the west London club from Gianni Paladini.
The three men are understood to have shaken hands on the deal within the last fortnight. Paladini has been looking to sell for around £30million but has told friends he would accept substantially less if the deal was right.
Under the deal, Paladini would stay on as chairman, running the Championship club on a day-to-day basis, but Ecclestone and Briatore - a football-mad Italian - have the financial clout to transform a side with one of the wealthiest catchment areas in the country. Ecclestone, who has transformed the fortunes of Formula One with his tough management style, has no track record in football but was recently linked to a possible takeover of Arsenal.
Last night, Paladini denied that a deal had been completed, saying: "I wish it was true."
The move is unusual in that it involves a partnership between a British and a foreign investor and comes on a day when two of English football's most influential figures warned of the dangers of too much foreign money coming into the domestic game.
With Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Fulham, Portsmouth, Sunderland and West Ham all now having non-English owners, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside voiced fears that too much foreign investment will damage the Premier League.
He said: "The trouble is that the more foreign owners you get, the greater the danger of the balance of power changing.
"Football, as it has been regulated for years, could be in danger. If the foreignowned clubs gain a majority and decide to get together, they could start to dictate how the league is run....." Daily Mail

The Times - Flamboyant Briatore on track to take over at QPR
Gary Jacob and Kevin Eason

Flavio Briatore is in advanced talks about taking control of Queens Park Rangers. The Renault team principal is believed to be considering a deal worth about £25 million for the club, including taking on the debt of about £21 million. The flamboyant businessman is not known for a love of football, although his shrewd brain has given him a unique place in Formula One. He helped to mastermind the transfer of a little-known Michael Schumacher and spotted Fernando Alonso, the world champion.
Briatore is the latest individual – including a consortium involving Ronny Rosenthal, the former Liverpool forward – that has been entertained by the Coca-Cola Championship club this summer in an attempt to ensure that do not fall into administration.
Briatore has promised John Gregory, the QPR manager, about £10 million to spend on players in Janaury and he is willing to repay the £10 million that is owed to the ABC Corporation, a loan that helped the club to exit administration five years ago, but has become a noose because of the hefty repayments. More than £7 million is still owed to club directors and the HM Revenue and Customs.
Born in Italy, Briatore ran Benetton’s operations in the United States, turning five stores into 800 branches. When Benetton sent him to Formula One to transform a moribund team he recruited the best – including Ross Brawn, who later became the technical director of Ferrari – and snatched a young driver from Jordan. Schumacher won two world titles at Benetton and a further five with Ferrari.
When Renault bought the Benetton team, Briatore who had briefly left Formula One returned, and spotted another brilliant talent, Alonso, who has won two world titles. Away from the track, Briatore, 57, lives a life reflected in the choice of title for his range of fashion and nightclub businesses, called simply Billionaire. He has yachts, a house in Sardinia and an apartment in London. The Times