DashJ

American hedge fund manager Tom Wagner has agreed to purchase a 45.64% stake in Birmingham City and take full control of St Andrew’s Stadium.

The club confirmed on Monday that Shelby Companies Limited, which was incorporated last month, has agreed to buy 24 per cent of the club’s shares from Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited (BSHL) and a 21.64 per cent stake from Oriental Rainbow Investments Limited and Achiever Global Group Limited.

Advertisement

Shelby Companies, named after the family featured in Birmingham-based crime drama The Peaky Blinders, is a UK subsidiary of Knighthood Capital Management, an investment firm Wagner co-founded in New York in 2008.

As well as the shares in Birmingham City PLC, Shelby is also buying all of Birmingham City Stadium Limited.

The current board will remain in control of the club until the Owners and Directors Tests have been approved by the EFL and the contracts have been completed.

It was Jeremy Dale, a local businessman and former Motorola and Microsoft executive, who put the takeover group together with his business partner Keith Pelley, the CEO of golf’s PGA European Tour. Dale led a group in talks about a significant investment in Birmingham in January and is joining Shelby Companies Ltd’s executive transition team. He is likely to join the club’s board once the deal is ratified.

Wagner and his team are set to attend Birmingham’s final match of the Championship season on Monday when they welcome Sheffield United to St Andrew’s.

A Birmingham statement read: “Tom Wagner and the Knighthead team will be joining us at St. Andrew’s today for the club’s final Sky Bet Championship fixture of the season. We look forward to giving them a very warm welcome. We are excited for the future.”

In a letter to Birmingham supporters, Wagner wrote: “Assuming the requisite regulatory approvals are granted, the structure of the transaction means that Knighthead will have full ownership and control over St. Andrew’s, part ownership of Birmingham City Plc, significant representation on the Board of Birmingham City Plc and a certain path to ensuring the future of the club is in good and safe hands.

“Knighthead, subject to the rules of the English Football League (EFL), will assume responsibility for the day to day running of the club, alongside other stakeholders.”

Advertisement

Birmingham is not Wagner’s first foray into sports team ownership. In October 2022, Knighthead partnered with NFL great Tom Brady and former tennis world number one Kim Clijsters to buy a Major League Pickleball expansion team.

Majority shareholders BSHL have held shares in Birmingham since 2007 and announced in April that they had entered a period of exclusive negotiations to sell the club, although Birmingham has been on the market for over a year. 

A takeover attempt led by local businessman Paul Richardson and former Barcelona striker Maxi Lopez collapsed in early December.

Since joining the English league structure in 1888, Birmingham have spent about half of their existence in the top flight. They were relegated from the Premier League in 2011, the same season they beat Arsenal to win the League Cup, and have played in the Championship since.

Birmingham sit 17th in the Championship and are on course for their highest league finish since the 2018-19 campaign.

GO DEEPER

'Broken' - the state of finances in the Championship

(Photo: Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k21wcWtjZXxzfJFsZmltX2WFcMDOpmSwmZejsrN5waKppqGenLWiuYycoK2xXw%3D%3D