By Kristin Wilcha
New Faces
David Dabill, former COO of Fallon Worldwide, Minneapolis, is joining the recently opened Toy, New York, as a partner….Jimmy Siegel, vice chairman/senior executive creative director at BBDO New York, is leaving the agency…. Matt Fischvogt and Jason Musante have been named associate creative directors at McKinney, Raleigh, N.C. The pair created the integrated Audi “Art of the H3ist” campaign….Publicis West, Seattle, is adding to its creative ranks: Parag Tembulkar comes on board as group creative director, and David Kim joins as interactive creative director….Tim Scott is joining the New York office of Attik as creative director….Penny Reid has been named CEO of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival….Geary Interactive, which has offices in San Diego and Las Vegas, is opening an office in New York….
Account Movement
Virgin Mobile has consolidated its ad account at Mother, New York….Kraft Foods has shifted ad work for its salad dressings, mayonnaise, and barbecue sauces to McGarry Bowen, New York….The New York office of Arnold Worldwide will handle ad duties for Lee Jeans….Agency 10 United, Pittsburgh, will handle advertising for Sears Optical….Washington Mutual has selected Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, to handle its ad account…..The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York, won the ad account for Office Depot….General Motors Europe has selected 180 Amsterdam to handle two branding assignments for the Opel line of cars….Adecco, a Swiss employment recruiter, has selected TBWA/London, to handle its global advertising….Berlin Cameron United, New York, will handle ad duties for Heineken Premium Light….
Endeavor Group Sells Professional Bull Riders, On Location and IMG To Parent of WWE and UFC
The parent company of WWE and UFC is buying Professional Bull Riders, On Location, and IMG from Endeavor Group in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.
The deal is part of Endeavor's efforts to shed some of its assets as it looks to be taken private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake, which was announced in April. Ariel Emanuel, who serves as CEO of Endeavor, is also executive chair and CEO of TKO.
Professional Bull Riders is a bull riding league that has more than 200 annual live events, approximately 1.25 million fans, and reaches more than 285 million households in more than 65 territories. On Location is live event company for more than 1,200 sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, Ryder Cup and NCAA Final Four. IMG is a distributor and producer of sports content, packages and sells media rights and brand partnerships, and provides consulting, digital services and event management to clients such as the National Football League and National Hockey League.
Parent company TKO Group said Thursday that the acquisition from Endeavor Group will complement its existing businesses as well as broaden its reach in the premium sports market.
"PBR, On Location, and IMG are industry-leading assets that meaningfully enhance TKO's portfolio and strengthen our position in premium sports globally," TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "Within TKO, they will help power the growth of our revenue streams and position us to capture even more upside from some of the most attractive parts of our sports ecosystem: media rights, live events, ticket sales, premium experiences, brand partnerships, and site fees."
As part of the deal, Endeavor will receive about 26.14 million common units of TKO... Read More