By Duncan Mackay
March 15 – The firm that put on the annual Leaders in Football conference have been taken over for £1.8 million ($2.9 million) by Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI), a company co-founded by former Leeds United chief executive Chris Akers, it was announced today.
CSI have purchase a majority stake in Executive Sport Ltd (ESL), whose portfolio of sports conferences also include Leaders in Performance and Leaders in Sponsorship, as well as high-level networking events such as the Leaders in Sport gathering in La Manga Club.
A number of new conferences will be announced in 2011 with plans to expand the portfolio further in 2012 and beyond, CSI said.
Based in London, CSI was founded by Russian investors Vladimir Antonov and Roman Dubov with Akers, a former City sports analyst who was chairman and chief executive of Leeds until he was replaced by Peter Ridsdale, as the club entered a decade of debt-fuelled decline.
The company manages the commercial development of several sports brands, including the Russian Ferrari race team.
They are also developing sporting franchises in motor rally, polo and golf.
Among CSI’s other sports franchises are the Spyker Squadron sports cars team and North One Sport, the global promoters of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Isle of Man TT race series, Velux 5 Oceans Race and Clipper Round the World sailing events.
Last month CSI acquired control of DBG Convers a specialist in developing social new media solutions for sports and entertainment brands and personalities including David Haye.
James Worrall (pictured), the founder and chief executive of ESL, is understood to have collected a £1 million ($1.6 million) for his stake in the company, whose shareholders also included former Football Association chief executive David Davies.
“The last three years have been incredibly exciting and rewarding as we have built a number of high level events from scratch under the ‘Leaders in’ brand,” said Worrall.
“I would like to thank my staff for their outstanding work and I am delighted to say that my team will continue our roles under the Convers banner.
“We are delighted to be partnering such a dynamic group as CSI and we are looking forward to continued growth and establishing the company as the global leader in the delivery of business to business sports events.”
Leaders in Football has earned a reputation for the quality of its speakers and this year’s event is due to be held at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on October 5 and 6.
“Convers Sports Initiatives are delighted to acquire a controlling interest in such a young, dynamic company as ESL,” said Antonov.
“We will bring our experience and network to the table to assist ESL to become a truly global brand.”
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