Queens Park Rangers are courting potential new backers who can provide the capital necessary to construct a new stadium. Their goal is to get the team back into the Premier League in that manner.
According to the Daily Mail, American bank Montminy & Co. submitted a sales proposal to possible investors. They are valuing the club at over $152 million and expressing ambitions for significant development.
The beautiful brochure, “Project Big Ben,” features London and emphasizes QPR‘s advantageous position in the city. Among the club’s supporters, this may go unrecognized.
The Hoops are now in 20th position in the English second division, and the hunt has been ongoing since the summer.
With eight games remaining in the season, they find themselves in the thick of a relegation battle.
The Queens Park Rangers are the latest London team to be advertised for funding. After Brentford owner Matthew Benham enlisted the help of another American bank, Rothschild, to scout for potential investors, they followed suit.
This notwithstanding, the present owners have clarified that they want to keep an active hand in the club.
QPR are seeking investors
New state of art venue in London?
Montminy bases his assessment of QPR on the current value of Loftus Road. This recently completed TSG training complex is worth $32 million, and playing assets are roughly $43 million.
With Marti Cifuentes at the helm, QPR has won three of their previous five games and moved out of the Championship relegation zone.
If they want to keep drawing in new investors, they need to stay in the second tier. Ruben Gnanalingam, a businessman from Malaysia, owns 60% of QPR.
Amit Bhatia, an investment manager from Britain, has slightly less than 20%, while Richard Reilly, a businessman from the United States, has 21%.
The three are looking for partners with the financial means and the necessary skills to help QPR advance. That’s according to insiders within the club who spoke with the Daily Mail.
Loftus Road features heavily in the investment brochure, thus it’s safe to assume that the necessary talents are related to property and stadium development. The club has big aspirations for Loftus Road.
Montminy said that QPR aims to “produce a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose stadium, as part of a major regeneration in West London”. He has pointed to the fact that the club is in constant communication with the local government to investigate promising avenues for stadium development. In response, QPR chose not to respond.
No outright sale
The club first refuted rumors of a potential outright sale in November 2023. The “commitment is unwavering” of the present investors, according to QPR chairman and CEO Lee Hoos.
“They have gone through… what they would be looking for is someone was to come in and sit alongside them at the table, but they have never wavered in their commitment.”
The last time QPR competed in the Premier League was in 2011. A long-delayed “New Deal” for English soccer might see this team receiving funding from their Premier League rivals.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Pro Sports Images.
