RIL IMG Worldwide stake acquisition completed

Article posted by Coliseum, January 7^th, 2021

Image: IMG Reliance

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries has acquired sports and entertainment marketing agency IMG’s 50 percent stake in their joint venture IMG-Reliance.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Reliance owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications.

IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, events and talent management company headquartered in New York City, US. IMG is a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media, operating in more than 30 countries, and is a part of the Endeavor network.

Reliance said it completed the acquisition of the equity shares of IMG-Reliance on December 28^th, and that the former joint venture had become a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Reliance acquired shares held by IMG Singapore for a cash consideration of Rs 52.08 crore ($7.1m/€5.7m). The conglomerate plans to rebrand the unit.

India’s biggest company by market value, in a stock exchange filing, had said it will buy IMG Worldwide’s 50 percent stake in IMG-Reliance Ltd (IMG-R) for no more than ₹52.08 crore in cash.

RIL had formed an equal joint venture with IMG Worldwide, an international sports marketing and management company, in 2010 to develop, market and manage sports and entertainment in India.

IMG-R is engaged in the business of creation, management, implementation and commercialization of sporting, fashion and entertainment events in India. IMG-R had a turnover of ₹181.70 crore (including GST of ₹25.79 crore) and a net profit of ₹16.35 crore in FY20.

IMG-Reliance was formed in 2010 to develop, market and manage sports, entertainment and fashion projects in India.

The JV recently claimed to have raised record revenue on the back of sponsorship and licensing deals for last year’s Indian Premier League T20 competition. The standout deal for the firm was securing online fantasy sports platform Dream11’s title sponsorship of the IPL. It also recently won the global mandate to market ‘Virtual Inventory’ rights, a new concept for Cricket Australia’s international fixtures.

In 2018, German football’s Bundesliga agreed to an exclusive long-term deal with IMG-Reliance to develop and promote the game and the German top flight in India.

IMG-Reliance was recruited to promote the Bundesliga activities in the region and put in place offline and digital marketing services, along with supporting public relations in the region, providing market research services and helping to broker deals with stakeholders in Indian football.

Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany’s primary football competition.

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