EXCLUSIVE: FERNANDES SEALS TAKEOVER

Malaysian business tycoon Tony Fernandes CBE has completed his takeover of Queens Park Rangers Football Club. Fernandes' company Tune Group have bought a majority stake in the Club, buying out previous majority shareholders Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. The 47 year-old founder of AirAsia, who is also the team principal of Formula One's Team Lotus, and his business partners, have a controlling stake of 66 per-cent and will work alongside the Mittal Family, who have retained their 33 per-cent stake.

Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, Fernandes said: "I lived in Uxbridge Road for many years and grew up around the area. "Everyone knows I've followed West Ham all my life, but I've always had a soft spot for QPR. "Rangers were one of the first teams I watched as a child at Loftus Road."

Fernandes - who will take the role of Chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd and be joined on the board by joint Tune Group owner Mr Kamarudin Bin Meranun, one of Malaysia's most successful business tycoons -added: "The opportunity to get involved with the Club was mentioned to me by the previous owners and here I am. "I've always wanted to be involved in football and the appeal of a London Club, like QPR, was too good an opportunity to turn down. "It's funny how life has a way of spinning things round. It goes full circle sometimes. "QPR is a raw diamond and hopefully I can contribute into turning it into a diamond."

Amit Bhatia, who will resume his position as Vice Chairman of the Club, told www.qpr.co.uk: "I'm very excited to welcome Tony to QPR and having spent considerable time with him, know that we share the same vision and values. "We have discussed in great detail how to restore pride at the Club and I'm very pleased with the outcome of these discussions. "It was a very difficult decision to resign from the board when I did, so I'm thrilled to be back and would like to thank all those who supported me and my family and look forward to serving the Club to the best of my abilities again. "Tony and I will work alongside each other to try and make this season as exciting and successful as possible. I love this Club and this is a very happy day for me."

Fernandes added: "I have ambitions in the long term. "I could easily say we're going to win the Champions League and the Premier League, but that's really not my style. I don't want to make big promises I can't guarantee. "I want the fans to be proud of what we're doing and be involved as much as we can. The fans pay good money and are stakeholders, so whatever we do, I want the fans to be proud. We'll do it in style and with integrity.

"I'm keen to create a good Academy, so that there's a constant supply of players. We're in a fantastic part of London and we should be bringing kids through. "The third aspect is to be a strong partner in the community and to make a difference in the community. "Of course you don't go into anything in the sporting world and not want to be the best, but these things take time and I'd rather let the results speaks for themselves."

-QPR Website.