Owner of NFL club Jacksonville Jaguar, Shahid Khan, has bought Fulham FC from Mohammed Al Fayed.
The 62-year-old billionaire car-parts entrepreneur is the sixth American owner of a Premier League club.
The sale puts an end to Al Fayed’s 16-year stint as owner of Fulham, during which time Fulham moved up from the third tier to the top flight and into Europe.
“It has been a pleasure and privilege to be chairman of Fulham football club for 16 memorable years,” Al Fayed said.
Financial details of the deal have not been officially disclosed, but media reports value the deal to be between £150m and £200m.
Khan, who moved to the United States at the age of 16, is an employer of labour (thousands of people) through his car parts business.
In a statement Al Fayed described Khan as “a living embodiment of the American success story”
“Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me,” said Pakistani-born Khan, whose NFL club Jaguars struggled last season, finishing bottom of AFC South with two wins from 14 matches.
“I want to be clear, I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham, but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans.
“My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of.
“We will manage the club’s financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programmes as fundamentally important elements of Fulham’s future.”
Al Fayed bought Fulham for a reported £30m in 1997 and provided the funds which helped the cottagers’ rise from the third tier of English football to the Premier League.
In arguably the club’s most successful ever period, he guided Fulham to their third promotion in five seasons in 2000/01 giving Fulham top-flight status for the first time since 1968.
The 2013/14 season will be their 13th successive Premier League campaign, making them one of the division’s longest-serving teams.
Fulham also reached the final of the Europa League in May 2010, losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid.
