N.Y. Times Examines IMG’s Changing Culture Under Forstmann
|
Forstmann Putting Own Mark On IMG
|
Forstmann Little & Co. acquired IMG for $750M in late ’04, and IMG’s cash flow, profits and value “have since swelled,” though it is not a public company and those claims “cannot be independently verified,” according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Forstmann has “overhauled the ingrained agent culture nurtured” by Founder MARK MCCORMACK. Forstmann “prefers not to even call it an agency,” and instead “is running it like a profit-driven, even obsessed, property that for the first time is focused on cash flow or EBITDA.” Forstmann has also “restocked most of IMG’s top executive ranks.” SFX Tennis Senior VP DONALD DELL, who previously ran IMG rival ProServ, said Forstmann has “changed the fiber of IMG. Whether for good or not, time will tell.” Sandomir writes McCormack “built IMG into a diverse leviathan, representing athletes, broadcasters and models.” The company owns or runs 60 golf and tennis tournaments, creates made-for-TV events and runs the IMG Academies. Forstmann: “I can feel the potential. Gosh, it’s multiples of what I first thought.” But Sandomir writes that potential “will exclude a formerly high-profile part of its business: negotiating contracts for football, baseball and hockey athletes.” Forstmann indicated that the “low fees IMG received from team athletes provided little to corporate profits, while endorsement deals for tennis players and golfers generated 20[%] commissions.” Forstmann: “I have investors. I’m a fiduciary” (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12).
|
