IMG: the management of WME, owner of the agency, will soon lay-off 3% of its workforce

WME-IMG, the career management, TV rights and marketing agency, will lay-off "3% of its (IMG's) worldwide staff," or about 100 employees (IMG has over 3500 employees worldwide), over the coming weeks, announced Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell, the two co-directors of the company, in a memo sent to employees on 01/12/2014.

WME (William Morris Endeavor Entertainment), one of the leading talent representation offices in the US and Europe (specialising in music, literature and film), and the investment firm Silver Lake Partners bought IMG Worldwide for $2.3bn (€1.7bn) on 18/12/2013. The lay-offs should cover the majority of positions at IMG which already exist within WME, namely the support functions and personnel involved in career management and representation of artists, according to US media.

IMG: more than €1bn turnover in 2012

• IMG was acquired in 2004 by the private equity firm Forstmann Little for $750m (€554m at the time).
  • Ted Forstmann, CEO of Forstmann Little, died at the end of 2011.
• George Pyne, president of IMG Sports, confirmed in April 2013 that Forstmann…