Knighthead Capital Management LLC is pleased to announce that through its affiliate Shelby Companies Limited, it has completed the transaction with the majority owners of Birmingham City Football Club, including Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited. Shareholder approval has been received which means that SCL, with immediate effect, has acquired full ownership and control of St. Andrews and 45.64% ownership of Birmingham City Plc.
A new Board for Birmingham City Plc has been appointed. The new Board members are: Thomas Wagner, Matthew Alvarez, Andrew Shannahan, Kyle Kneisly, Laura Torrado, Wenqing Zhao and Gannan Zheng.
SCL is now responsible for all the operations of the Club and will provide the necessary funding to rebuild and set a new trajectory. SCL is committed to making available the resources, in line with EFL guidelines, needed over time to deliver transformational change for the good of the Club and the benefit of the city of Birmingham.
Tom Wagner, Knighthead Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said: “This is an exciting day for everyone associated with Birmingham City Football Club, especially the fans. It marks the beginning of a new chapter. From this moment on everything we do will be focused on improving the experience for our fans and making a positive contribution to growth of the city of Birmingham and how it is viewed around the world.”
He added: “We are committed to giving the fans a greater voice. We will add talented professionals to the existing leadership team, experienced in driving transformational change in football and other sports organisations. Continually improve the physical infrastructure of the Club. Create new and exciting commercial relationships, leveraging global businesses that Knighthead is connected to. Invest in both the men’s and women’s teams, with young local talent given the opportunity to shine. And always be a positive force in the local community. The transition and implementation plans will take time, but we believe that we will earn Birmingham City fans trust and support.”
He concluded: “Our goal is to put in place the building blocks for success so that Birmingham has a club, bearing its name, which is globally respected. The future of Birmingham City is in good and safe hands. The potential of this Club is unlimited.”
SCL will be announcing new additions to the Birmingham City Football Club leadership team, infrastructure improvements and a new commercial partner in the coming days.
About Knighthead Capital Management LLC
Knighthead Capital Management, LLC (“Knighthead”) was co-founded in 2008 by Ara Cohen and Tom Wagner and currently has approximately $9.5 billion of assets under management. Knighthead is an event driven and deep value focused SEC registered investment advisor that specializes in investing in companies that need financial and operational restructuring. Knighthead has worked to create a diversified credit platform with an experienced team of investment professionals, specializing in credit analysis, sourcing, trading, and restructuring. Knighthead’s long-term objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its clients while emphasizing the preservation of capital. Knighthead manages assets across a variety of investment vehicles including a long/short Evergreen Hedge Fund, a number of Closed-End Credit Vehicles, a dedicated Real Estate Lending business and a sizable Insurance Asset Management business.
