Billionaire Shahid Khan said to be offering £500m in cash
The Football Association has confirmed it has received a bid to buy Wembley Stadium, understood to have been tabled by Pakistan-born US billionaire Shahid Khan.
The deal to buy the Populous/Foster + Partners’-designed stadium, built by Multiplex and opened in 2007, is believed to be worth £800m, with Khan prepared to pay £500m of the total in cash.
Khan, who is understood to have a personal fortune worth £5.2bn, owns Fulham Football Club and American football team the Jacksonville Jaguars. Reports suggest he wants to bring part of the NFL franchise to the capital.
The 90,000-seater stadium cost £798m to build, with Sports England paying £120m, plus £21m from the London Development Agency and funding of £20m from the then-Tony Blair-led Labour government.
Around £142m-worth of debt is said to be outstanding on the FA’s books.
It is not clear what the ramifications of a Wembley sale would be for Chelsea football club, which hopes to play for possibly four years at the home of English football while its existing Stamford Bridge home in west London is torn down to make way for a new £1bn 60,000-seater stadium designed by Swiss architect Herzog & de Meuron.
Multiplex is believed to be in the running to be the main contractor to build the Blues’ new home, as is Lendlease, Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine.
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