IMG To Be Sold To William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC… Or What Do You Get When IMG Joins Up With WME?

Written by: Staff on 18th January 2014

IMG To Be Sold To William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC... Or What Do You Get When IMG Joins Up With WME?

epa00588144 Shadow of Indonesia's Wynne Prakusya as she returns a ball against Indonesia's Romana Tedjakusama in the women's tennis final at the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila on Saturday 03 December 2005. Prakusya won the gold for Indonesia, 6-0, 6-3. EPA/DENNIS M. SABANGAN |

Editors Note: We wonder how Teddy Forstmann would feel about this merger…. We also wonder if this doesn’t make Jill Smoller the biggest female sports agent on the planet?

Maria Sharapova is set to become a stable mate of Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington and Martin Scorsese as the sale of IMG to William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC, one of the oldest names in the Hollywood talent business, is expected to be announced later today.

According to the Wall Street Journal, William Morris Endeavor and its private-equity backer, Silver Lake, should later today close a deal to buy IMG Worldwide Inc. for about $2.4 billion.

The bid beat that of CVC Capital Partners, another private-equity firm that owns the Formula One Group, one of the largest managerial companies in world motor sport, who had previously offered $2 billion for IMG whose owners Forstmann Little & Co., formally put the company up for sale in the summer.

Such an acquisition for Williams Morris Endeavor would be a major coup in its’ rivalry with Creative Artists Agency, who were looking at the possibilities of buying IMG a few months ago. CAA has built a sizable sports division, in part by poaching talent from IMG and hiring many former IMG agents to start CAA Sports.

In 2009, current Williams Morris Endeavor chief executive, Ari Emanuel—brother of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel—and his business partner Patrick Whitesell engineered a merger between their 14-year-old Endeavor agency and the century-plus-old William Morris Agency.

IMG is expected to announce earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization this year of $190 million, on revenue of about $1.6 billion. It is understood the major interest for Williams Morris Endeavor was IMG’s sports-production division that sporting events around the world, including some of the biggest competitions in tennis and golf, and then sells the media rights.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Denzel Washington, Formula One Group, IMG, Maria Sharapova, Martin Scorsese, oprah winfrey, Patrick Whitesell, Tennis, Tennis News, William Morris, William Morris Endeavor