Report: Rams sold to Illinois businessman

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The NFL St. Louis Rams have been sold to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan, St. Louis Globe-Democrat.com said Thursday.

Khan, 55, president of the Flex-N-Gate Corp., an auto parts manufacturer based in Urbana, Ill., has never been an owner of a professional sports team of any kind, but the Globe-Democrat said he is expected to purchase the 60 percent ownership stake of Chip Rosenbloom and his sister, Lucia Rodriguez, the children of the late Rams owner Georgia Frontiere.

Citing sources close to the team, the Globe-Democrat said if 40-percent owner Stan Kroenke decides to sell his shares, Khan would buy them -- giving him complete ownership.

Any transaction would require approval of 75 percent of the league's other 31 owners.

The team's value is estimated to be between $725 million and $750 million, the report said.

Khan and his wife Ann have been investigated in the past by the IRS for allegedly sheltering hundreds of millions of dollars from income tax, the Globe-Democrat reported. Khan told The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette in 2009 the couple paid the IRS an estimated $68 million but were pursuing legal avenues to recover the money.