Sources: Forstmann Little Looking For Bank To Handle Sale Of IMG

Private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. has "decided to put its sports and modeling talent agency IMG up for sale and is in the process of picking an investment bank to lead the effort,” according to sources cited by Damouni & Kim of REUTERS. Sources said that the decision to shop IMG is “being driven by the trustee that runs the estate of Teddy Forstmann.” Sources added that IMG, which Forstmann “bought for $750 million in 2004, could now fetch more than $2 billion in a sale.” The sources added that several investment banks “including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, The Raine Group, Barclays, Perella Weinberg Partners and LionTree Advisors LLC are competing to win a mandate to run the auction,” and a bank is “expected to be selected in March.” The sources said that the sale is “expected to draw interest from big entertainment players ranging from Creative Artists Agency and William Morris to French media group Lagardere,” as well as “large private equity firms and billionaires” (REUTERS, 2/20).