Talent Agency Likely To Fetch $2.7B Bid As It Narrows Prospective Buyers List

Banks Morgan Stanley and Evercore are "working on the hottest media auction in town, IMG," and are set to cut their list of "prospective buyers after the latest round of bids was delivered late last week," according to Claire Atkinson of the N.Y. POST. IMG is being "chased by some of Tinseltown’s fiercest competitors: CAA’s Richard Lovett, WME co-CEOs Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, and Peter Chernin, each of whom is paired with private-equity partners who are going to have to dig deep." Bidding was previously reported to be in the $2.7B area. The pairings "include CAA-TPG, WME Silver Lake, Chernin and CVC Capital." Billionaire Len Blavatnik "had been quietly looking at the asset to bolster his interest in European digital sports agency Perform Sports," but "he's now out" (N.Y. POST, 11/9).