Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), the collegiate trademark licensing agency, has been sold to IMG, the sports, entertainment and media company. Terms were not disclosed
Under the agreement, CLC will operate as a freestanding unit within IMG's Sports and Entertainment Group, overseen by IMG Sports and Entertainment Group President, George Pyne. CLC founder and Chairman, Bill Battle, will continue to lead the company he founded, alongside Pat Battle, CLC's President and CEO. CLC will remain headquartered in Atlanta.
With the acquisition, IMG enters the fast-growing collegiate sports segment. Already a leader in the multibillion-dollar international licensing and marketing arena, IMG generates licensing and marketing opportunities for some of sports and entertainment's best-known brands and personalities including Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, The Nobel Foundation, Major League Baseball, Wimbledon, The United States Golf Association, Cesar Millan, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Hilary Duff, Drew Barrymore and Gisele Bündchen, among many others.
In making the announcement, Ted Forstmann, IMG's Chairman and CEO, said, “This acquisition provides IMG and CLC's clients with a significant new opportunity for growth. The combination of IMG's expertise and resources will not only allow CLC to continue its leadership position in collegiate licensing, but more importantly, to grow into other areas of collegiate sports as well.”
Forstmann continued, “In its 25-year history, Bill and Pat Battle, and their talented leadership team have built CLC into collegiate sports' preeminent licensing company. I'm delighted IMG's unmatched portfolio of sports, entertainment and media assets will now include the dynamic college sports segment.”
“We are excited about the potential for continued growth of the collegiate licensing market through IMG's impressive staff, extensive global network and broad resources,” said Bill Battle. “Our entire staff has worked hard over the past 25 years to serve our clients and licensees, build a great reputation, and establish a successful revenue stream for collegiate institutions. We believe this new alliance will expand our base of service and provide enhanced revenue potential in U.S. and international markets to collegiate clients.”
“This is an innovative opportunity for us to try to move our clients' licensing programs much further, much faster in the future,” added Pat Battle. “Our great team of people in Atlanta will now have access to IMG's resources and unique way of building brands that can really help to shift the collegiate licensing paradigm in the future.”
“Collegiate sports already includes some of the most iconic and recognized brands in the overall sports marketplace, appealing to the most loyal and enthusiastic consumers of sports merchandise,” said George Pyne. “IMG is proud to welcome Bill and Pat Battle, the first-rate CLC organization and its talented staff, and CLC's partner institutions to IMG's very significant portfolio of global sports, entertainment and media assets.”
Atlanta-based CLC is a full-service licensing and marketing company that assists collegiate institutions with a wide array of licensing and administration services, helping to protect, develop and manage their brands in the $3 billion collegiate merchandise marketplace. CLC serves as the exclusive licensing agency for nearly 200 collegiate properties located in 44 states across the U.S. Current clients include the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), the Rose Bowl, the Heisman Trophy and the NCAA (including the Men's and Women's Final Four, the College World Series, and all NCAA Championships), as well as many of the most recognized colleges and universities across the U.S., including Texas, Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Penn State and Arizona, among many others. CLC member institutions collectively represent more than 75 percent of all annual collegiate merchandise retail sales.
