Confirmed: The bargain price Tom Wagner paid for full Birmingham City takeover in 2025 | OneFootball

Knighthead Capital completed their full takeover of Birmingham City in November 2025

Knighthead Capital paid a total of £5 million to purchase the remaining 51 per cent of shares in Birmingham City to take full control of the club in November 2025, it has now been revealed.

According to BirminghamLive, figures from a Companies House document filed by Shelby Companies Limited has revealed the details of the takeover of Blues.

Knighthead Capital controls Shelby Companies Limited, which is owned by Tom Wagner, and they initially purchased shares in the Championship side in July 2023, which gave him a controlling stake at St. Andrew's.

Wagner has invested heavily in the Midlands outfit since first coming on board as part of the ownership structure, with money being spent on both the first team squad, and in improving their infrastructure.

Birmingham announced plans to build a brand new 62,000-seater stadium, which could be open in time for the beginning of the 2030/31 campaign, and whilst it's going to take a lot of money and hard work to make that happen, the amount of money that Wagner and co paid to acquire the rest of the club last year will make it feel like a bargain.

How much Knighthead Capital paid to buy the rest of Birmingham City

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It’s been revealed that Knighthead Capital paid £5 million to purchase the remaining 51 per cent of shares in Birmingham late last year.

The Championship side were previously owned by ZO Future Group, previously known as Birmingham Sports Holdings, and before that it was Trillion Trophy Asia, ran by Paul Suen in the Far East, but they first agreed to sell the club in 2023.

Wagner was installed as chairman as part of the initial takeover agreement, and he has overseen the day-to-day running of the team since then.

The American has been heavily involved in the plans to build a new stadium, which will eventually replace St. Andrew’s once it's completed.

It was also revealed that Birmingham’s credit facility, which is provided through Knighthead Capital, has been increased to £200 million - it’s understood that the Blues have borrowed up to £126.5 million from this credit facility from the owners, which shows their unwavering support to the cause.

Birmingham City’s SCR loophole transaction

The Midlands outfit also completed a transaction to sell the women’s team for around £35 million to a company formed by Shelby Companies Limited.

So, in effect, Birmingham sold the women’s team to themselves, which bitter rivals Aston Villa, as well as Chelsea, have also done in recent years.

This has been perceived as using a loophole in the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rules, which allow the club to book the transaction as revenue earned in that financial year.

Birmingham are under Tom Wagner’s total control despite health issues

Birmingham are now clearly moving forward under the vision of Wagner, as it’s hard to imagine the club announcing plans for a new 62,000-seater stadium without this takeover.

Knighthead Capital’s brief tenure in charge so far has been quite mixed, with relegation to League One in their first season being a real low point.

However, they have turned things around, and have at least re-established themselves in the second tier of English football.

But they are no closer to their ultimate goal of returning to the Premier League, and this slow start to the new campaign suggests there is still a lot of work to be done before that can be achieved.

To Wagner's credit though, he's been a passionate chairman, and even though things have been quiet due to a stroke he suffered earlier in 2026, the American businessman re-appeared at St. Andrew's last weekend for the Midlands Derby against Wolves, which was a real show of strength and shows how committed he is to making Blues a force.