(Updated 11 April 2024 to add agent representing vendor.)
Knighthead, the American group that owns Birmingham City Football Club with minority partner Tom Brady, has acquired 48 acres of land to build a multi-use stadium and sports complex.
The deal paves the way for the club to build a new Sports Quarter, which will see the Blues move out of their St Andrew's Stadium, which holds approximately 30,000 fans.
The New York-based investment adviser took over the club in July and said the venue will bring international sporting events to the region, plus training facilities and other mixed-use development, including a "range of entertainment options".
Seven-time American football Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady became a minority owner of Birmingham City in August 2023. He sits on the advisory board, with his role including working on new commercial partnership opportunities.
The plot on Bordesley Park, formerly a racetrack, was sold by Birmingham City Council to entities managed by Knighthead for an undisclosed fee.
The club's American chairman, Tom Wagner, told BBC Sport his plans for the Sports Quarter reflect an investment of £2 billion to £3 billion, with an ambition of completing the project in the "next five years". The new stadium will reportedly hold around 60,000 fans.
The club said in a statement: "The ambition for the Sports Quarter is for it to become a globally recognisable sporting and entertainment location. The goal is for Blues to have a world-class stadium, training facilities for both men and women, a new academy, community pitches and commercial space to support innovative local businesses, all within walking distance to the city centre."
A circa £17.5 million government grant was secured via the Levelling Up fund in January to help prepare the former Wheels site for development, with remediation works having already started. Long leaseholder Birmingham Wheels forfeited the site to the Birmingham Council due to rent arrears in January 2020.
The site had been earmarked for up to 1 million square feet of employment-led development, but it will now host a modern football stadium. The club says it will create 3,000 jobs in the area.
Wagner said in a statement: "When we invested in Birmingham City, we made it very clear that we had an ambitious vision to transform the experience for our fans and make a positive contribution to the growth and vitality of the city of Birmingham. The acquisition of the former Wheels site is an important next step in making this a reality.
"The plans for the Sports Quarter will bring global interest to our Club and to Birmingham as a whole. It is going to transform the future of our Men’s, Women’s and Academy teams, and the fortunes of the community that we call home."
Knighthead Capital Management, through its affiliate Shelby Companies Limited, completed its takeover of the Championship football club last year. It is an investment adviser registered with the US's Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wagner co-founded Knighthead in 2008 and has a background in the finance sector. This includes time at Goldman Sachs, where he was a managing director, responsible for running the distressed and high yield credit trading desks.
Savills advised Birmingham City Council.