Former Yahoo! CEO eyes up IMG takeover

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 07-Jul-08, 11:45

LONDON - Terry Semel, the former chief executive of Yahoo!, has teamed up with investment firm Dubai International Capital to launch a joint bid for sports agency IMG, whose clients include Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake.

IMG Media, which also owns the UK's production company, Tiger Aspect, which produced the recent 'Robin Hood' drama series for the BBC, has slapped a $3bn (£1.5bn) asking price on the company.

The company, which was originally known as the 'International Management Group' and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, also includes TWI, a television division, among its assets.

Semel left Yahoo in June 2007 to become the chief executive of Windsor Media investment firm, the investment company he started before joining Yahoo!.

He pocketed $71.1m as CEO of Yahoo! in 2006 and relinquished his post six days after he was asked at the company's annual meeting whether he had enough "fire in his belly" to do the job. He was also under pressure from shareholders over his salary.

Semel had earned over $500m in his tenure at Yahoo!, while the company's stock appreciated at 5% per year.

In the same period, Yahoo!'s closest competitor, Google experienced stock growth of more than 400%.

He was replaced by founder Jerry Yang who is struggling as his strategy for turning Yahoo! around fails to deliver.