AirAsia owner Tony Fernandes is poised to take control of English Premier League football club Queens Park Rangers.
The deal to give Fernandes control of the club could be announced today. Queens Park Rangers (QPR) is currently 62%-owned by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
Fernandes, who heads a growing Malaysia-based airline empire, is also head of the Malaysian business group that set up Team Lotus as a Formula One racing team.
Full details of the deal have yet to be be disclosed, but the Financial TImes reported Fernandes would take a 51% stake in the football club. Fernandes’ long-haul Air Asia off-shoot Air Asia X has previously had a sponsorship deal with Manchester United. He has also been linked with repeated attempts to buy West Ham United.
Air Asia X flies daily from Stansted to Kuala Lumpur, but is poised to switch to Gatwick from October. Air Asia operates a substantial low-cost regional network from Kuala Lumpur, with a growing number of subsidiaries.
Fernandes announced a deal last week giving him a stake in Malaysian flag carrier Malaysia Airlines, meaning he now has interests in five carriers.