Lord Coe's CSM Sport & Entertainment Close to Being Acquired by Wasserman in Transatlantic Takeover

Lord Coe's CSM Sport & Entertainment, a leading sports marketing agency, is reportedly close to being acquired by Wasserman, a global sports, music, and culture agency.

The transatlantic takeover would build scale in the rapidly growing global sports marketing industry and bring together two companies with a common shareholder in Providence Equity Partners, a global buyout firm.

CSM's clients include AIA, the Asian insurer that sponsors Tottenham Hotspur FC and the Alpine Formula One team.

Lord Coe, a double Olympic gold-medallist and former Conservative MP, is CSM's non-executive chairman.

The agency has been instrumental in securing sponsorships and promoting major sports events, including the 2012 London Olympics.

The sale of CSM to Wasserman would mark the latest consolidation in the sports marketing industry, as new sources of financial power emerge.

The deal would also follow a trend of growing global influence of Saudi Arabia in the sporting world, underlined by the kingdom's investment in sports teams and events.

Wasserman represents high-profile athletes such as John Stones, the Manchester City and England defender, and Steven Gerrard, the former Aston Villa manager.

If the deal goes through, it would bring together two powerful agencies with a shared vision for the future of sports marketing.

Providence Equity Partners, CSM's and Wasserman's common shareholder, invested in Wasserman last November.

The terms of the deal, including its price and structure, are still unclear, but sources suggest that a deal could be struck as soon as this week.

However, one source cautioned that the talks could yet fall apart.

The sale of CSM would leave Chime, the agency's parent company, as the owner of VCCP, a successful London-based advertising agency founded about 20 years ago.

Providence would be expected to sell the remainder of Chime in due course, having taken it private from the London stock market in a £375m deal in 2015.

The proposed merger of Wasserman and CSM would be a significant development in the rapidly evolving sports marketing industry, shaping the future of sponsorships, ath