By Keith Weir
LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Advertising agency WPP believes that a price tag of up to $2.5 billion for IMGWorldwide is too high to justify a bid for the sports marketinggroup, CEO Martin Sorrell said on Thursday.
"We would love to own IMG," Sorrell told the Leaders inFootball sports industry conference. Asked if WPP was bidding,he added: "No, we can't afford it."
IMG, set up by American sports agent Mark McCormack in 1960,is up for sale after the death in 2011 of owner Teddy Forstmann,who paid $750 million for the business in 2004.
Sorrell said he believes that private equity company SilverLake and its partner William Morris Endeavor Entertainment arethe most likely purchasers but noted strong competition.
"People are talking about 2 to 2.5 (billion dollars). Theyare talking about 20 bidders, 10 bidders going into the secondround. That's nose-bleed territory for us," Sorrell said.
Sorrell estimates that IMG generates annual revenues ofabout $1.25 billion and core profit of between $170 million and$200 million.
Britain's WPP had been rumoured as a possible buyer, giventhat it often deals with sports sponsors and rights owners.Sorrell also worked with McCormack at IMG early in his careerand is also a director of Formula One motor racing.
WPP, which is set to yield its position as the world'slargest advertising agency once Publicis and Omnicom merge, has a market capitalisation of more than 16billion pounds ($25.5 billion).
However, Sorrell indicated that the level of interest in IMGand the cachet of a company with clients including tennis starsNovak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova had made it prohibitivelyexpensive.
Interested parties include a combination of private equityfirms KKR and New Mountain Capital, as well as sports andentertainment company Creative Artists Agency. Europeaninvestment group CVC Capital Partners is another likely bidder.