tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post8554675334216832703..comments2024-03-26T19:25:43.970-07:00Comments on South Asia Investor Review: Pakistani-American Buys Rams For $500 MillionRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-82227385889326485052012-02-06T20:14:03.867-08:002012-02-06T20:14:03.867-08:00Here's a recent Forbes story on Shahid Khan:
...Here's a recent <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2011/12/05/private-billionaire-shahid-khan-revealed-in-jaguars-sale/" rel="nofollow">Forbes story</a> on Shahid Khan:<br /><br /><i>Last week’s sale of the Jacksonville Jaguars thrust soon-to-be new NFL owner Shahid Khan into the spotlight. A low profile private businessman for 30 years at Flex-N-Gate, an international auto supply company, he had rarely appeared in national press and never before was listed among the Forbes 400 Richest Americans or on our list of the world’s billionaires. Khan’s acquisition of the NFL team for $760 million and the strong performance of his company suggest that indeed he may be one of the richest people in America.<br /><br />A naturalized U.S. citizen, Khan immigrated from Pakistan in 1967 at age 16. He built his wealth, which is likely enough to earn him a spot among the world’s billionaires in our 2012 rankings, through Flex-N-Gate, which he originally joined while earning his engineering degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.<br /><br />Khan left Flex-N-Gate in1978 to found his own company, Bumper Works, and created a new one-piece car bumper design that would become the industry standard. He bought his former employer two years later and merged operations. Over the next two decades, Khan expanded Flex-N-Gate’s operations with contracts to provide parts to many of the largest automobile companies, including Toyota.<br /><br />Still a private company, Flex-N-Gate surpassed $3 billion in sales this year, according to the company, making it the 14th largest North American automotive supplier. It employs over 12,450 people internationally at plants throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Spain. Flex-N-Gate’s manufacturing expertise has expanded to include interior and exterior plastics, lighting systems, mechanical assemblies, metal structural body components, and exterior metal parts.<br /><br />Khan previously tried to buy the St. Louis Rams last year, but was blocked when fellow billionaire and then-minority Rams owner Stan Kroenke exercised his right of first refusal option to purchase the team himself. He has agreed to pay $760 million this time for 100 percent control of the Jaguars; that price includes the assumption of the team’s debt and some debt of his own.<br /><br />The new Jaguars owner has a complicated history with the IRS, which accused Khan and his wife of trying to illegally shelter $250 million from federal taxes from 1999 to 2003. Khan, who has said he repaid the $68 million in disputed taxes, currently has lawsuits pending against both the IRS and his former financial advisers.<br /><br />Outside of Flex-N-Gate, Khan also founded and owns two smaller companies, Bio-Alternative, a bio-diesel tech company, and Smart Structures, which monitors the structural health of bridges.<br /><br />Khan and his wife Ann have also given back millions of dollars to their alma mater, the University of Illinois. On campus, they’ve endowed five Khan Professorships, the Khan Annex library expansion, and the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.</i><br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2011/12/05/private-billionaire-shahid-khan-revealed-in-jaguars-sale/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-493163340647325022011-11-29T14:28:28.925-08:002011-11-29T14:28:28.925-08:00Here's a Bloomberg report about Pakistani-Amer...Here's a <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-29/nfl-s-jaguars-to-be-sold-to-khan-remain-in-jacksonville.html" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg report</a> about Pakistani-American Shahid Khan buying Jaguars:<br /><br /><i>Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars will be sold to Shahid Khan, the owner of auto-parts maker Flex-N-Gate Corp. who failed in a bid last year to buy the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams.<br /><br />The Jaguars, who have a 3-8 record this season and fired coach Jack Del Rio today, are the only team in the four major U.S. professional sports to play in Jacksonville. Khan plans to keep the franchise in the northeast Florida city rather than relocate, owner Wayne Weaver said at a news conference.<br /><br />“It’s a little bittersweet,” said the 76-year-old Weaver, who called the sale an exit strategy. “I’ll miss it because it’s been a big part of our lives for 18 years. But it’s the right time and it’s for the right reasons.”<br /><br />The Jaguars have an estimated value of $725 million, the lowest in the NFL, according to Forbes. They rank 26th among the NFL’s 32 teams in attendance this season.<br /><br />Khan, a native of Pakistan whose company is based in Urbana, Illinois, agreed in February 2010 to buy a controlling interest in the Rams before billionaire Stan Kroenke exercised an option to purchase the 60 percent of the club he didn’t own.<br /><br />“He said he really wanted to buy a team and do it here in Jacksonville,” Weaver said. “This gentleman is absolutely the American story. He’s passionate about football and he’s going to buy a home here in Jacksonville.”<br /><br />Weaver, the owner of shoe retailer Shoe Carnival Inc. and chairman of wholesale distributor Liz Claiborne Shoes, bought the Jaguars for $208 million in 1993, two years before they started play as an expansion team. Weaver said he refused to take several calls from interested buyers in California, where the city of Los Angeles remains without an NFL franchise.<br /><br />‘Wasting Time’<br /><br />“It was wasting my time and their time,” Weaver said without identifying the interested parties. “We had no interest. We’re a Jacksonville franchise and we plan to stay a Jacksonville franchise.”<br /><br />Khan left Pakistan in 1967 at the age of 16 to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and began working for Flex-N-Gate three years later while still an engineering student. Khan left the company in 1978 to begin a business that designed and manufactured lightweight metal bumper systems, with no seams to corrode or rust.<br /><br />Today, almost two-thirds of all North American-built pick- up trucks and sports utility vehicles have bumper systems based on Khan’s designs, according to figures released by the Jaguars today. Khan bought Flex-N-Gate in 1980 and the company now has more than 10,000 employees at 48 manufacturing plants with annual sales exceeding $3 billion.<br /><br />‘Dream Come True’<br /><br />“Owning a team in the National Football League has long been my personal and professional goal,” said Khan, whose purchase could be formally completed in January. “Becoming the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars would be a dream come true for me and my family but, above all, would be a privilege.”<br /><br />The team made the playoffs in four of its first five seasons and has been to the postseason twice since. Jacksonville last finished with a winning record in 2007 and has had a series of home games “blacked out,” which means they can’t be televised locally if tickets aren’t sold out 72 hours before kickoff at EverBank Field.<br /><br />“We’ve got a lot of tickets to sell before these last few games,” Weaver said. “I would hope the community would respond and support us in a positive way. We’re still a small market and growing.”<br /><br />The Jaguars cut starting quarterback David Garrard in September five days before their first regular-season game, a move that saved the team $9 million..</i><br /><br />http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-29/nfl-s-jaguars-to-be-sold-to-khan-remain-in-jacksonville.htmlRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278279504304651957.post-9909505477112165772011-01-13T23:17:51.029-08:002011-01-13T23:17:51.029-08:00Shahid Khan's bid to acquire SL Rams was unsuc...Shahid Khan's bid to acquire SL Rams was unsuccessful. <br /><br />Here's an excerpt from an <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/article_32494bf2-b064-11df-970d-00127992bc8b.html" rel="nofollow">stltoday story</a>:<br /><br /><i>The sale seemed almost complete just a few days after the Super Bowl in February when Shahid Khan of Urbana, Ill., an auto parts manufacturer, entered into a sales agreement with the Rams.<br /><br />Two months later, Kroenke surprised just about everyone, Rosenbloom and Rodriguez included, when he exercised a right of first refusal matching the Khan sales agreement.<br /><br />And now, four months after exercising that right, Stan is the man running the Rams.<br /><br />"I have nothing but best wishes for Stan Kroenke as the new controlling owner of the St. Louis Rams," Khan said in a statement. "I have gotten to know Stan very well this year, I admire his success and I am certain he will be an excellent owner for the Rams, the National Football League and the St. Louis community.<br /><br />"I'll always appreciate the trust Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez put in me, and I thank Commissioner Roger Goodell and team owners for their professional approach in everything related to the sale process. This adventure didn't turn out the way I had hoped, but it was otherwise a worthwhile experience in every respect and I'll always be a fan of the St. Louis Rams."</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com