Interest In Purchasing IMG Is Heating Up

Written by: Staff on 11th July 2013

Interest In Purchasing IMG Is Heating Up

epa03777535 A man with a haircut looking like a tennis ball is seen prior to the women's single final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2013. EPA/Friso Gentsch |

Sam Zussman, senior vice president of IMG Worldwide and managing director of IMG Performance, recently said at an IMG Academy staff meeting that its business as usual in at the South Florida location.

IMG Worldwide is up for sale for about $2 billion dollars and while the company may not be sold in the near future, it definitely will change hands.

“Nobody knows who the buyer may be,” Zussman told the Bradenton Herald. “What we do is focus on running the company and the business on a day-to-day basis.”

Forstmann Little & Co., which owns IMG, has chosen Morgan Stanley and Evercore Partners Inc. to find a buyer

Bloomberg reported that non-disclosure agreements have likely gone out to potential suitors, with first-round bids likely due in July,

There have been a variety of possible suitors thrown about in the business press, including Guggenheim Partners, Silver Lake Management LLC and Creative Artists Agency.

But a source told Daily Tennis News that India’s largest company, Reliance Industries Limited, appears to be one of the frontrunners. Mukesh Ambani, who cemented a partnership in 2010 with IMG called IMG Reliance, heads the company. His net worth is estimated at more than $20 billion.

Reliance Industries Limited is a Fortune Global 500 company and has annual revenues in excess of US$ 66 billion. The company started with textiles in the late 1970s but then moved into polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining, oil and gas exploration and production

IMG Reliance has already signed a 30-year partnership with the Basketball Federation of India to develop basketball from the grassroots to a professional league. The BFI granted IMG Reliance commercial rights, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, film, video and data, intellectual property, franchising and new league rights.

IMG Reliance also signed a 15-year partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the governing body for soccer in India. IMG Reliance, in cooperation with the AIFF, said its aim is to radically restructure, overhaul, improve, popularize and promote the game of football throughout India..

Existing IMG events in India are now under management of the joint venture, including the ATP tournament Aircel Chennai Open and Lakme Fashion Week.

IMG Academy also set up shop in India where it provides management and coaching services to IMG Reliance Academies in India. It is developing a program to develop Indian coaches for the academy in India

The profitable IMG Academy in Bradenton is in the midst of a $36 million, 100-plus-acre expansion, including a 5,000-seat multisport stadium, a new residence hall, track and field area and a 40,000-square-foot field house, so it remains an attractive target.

Another name that is still said to be in the mix to purchase IMG is Eike Batista, who is one of Brazil’s wealthiest men and did partner with IMG on a joint venture called IMX in 2010. His estimated net worth is $12.7 billion. His company, EBX Group, is invested in mining, energy, oil and infrastructure, and real estate.

IMX is EBX Group’s sports and entertainment company, which is devoted to the staging of events and production of entertainment content in the sports, fashion, and music sectors.

Lagardère, which has a big interest in tennis, is no longer thought to be a serious bidder as it is already is carrying $2.35 billion in debt.

@Daily Tennis News Wire

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