Icon, order an event branding and production specialist, discount  has been acquired in an £11m (US$18m) deal by global PR, unhealthy advertising and marketing group Chime Communications.

Chime, the holding company for international public relations group Bell Pottinger, has highlighted the growth opportunities surrounding the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics for its decision to invest.

Icon’s management buy-out from the CSS Stellar organisation saw growing sales from £11.6m ($19m) in 2008, to £18.6m ($30.4m) in 2010 – primarily through organic growth augmented by the acquisition of event production agency MEI. 

John Francis, managing director of Icon, said: “This is an exciting prospect for Icon and one which will have significant benefits for both our employees and clients alike. 

“Chime’s overseas operations will help to strengthen and augment our capabilities outside of the UK, enabling us to provide an even better global service to our existing and future international clientele.”

Icon has confirmed that it will continue to operate from its head office in south east London, and its existing facilities in Germany, Qatar, the UAE, Canada, India and South Africa, all under the control of the current Icon management team.

Edward Leask, director of Chime’s sports marketing division added: “Icon has an unparalleled reputation for delivering World Class branding implementation solutions across the biggest sporting events on the planet. 

“It has also developed a formidable reputation for innovative and unique experiential ideas that will augment the work we are already delivering across our event and consultancy businesses within CSM as well as the Chime network.”

Total Sports Asia have announced Tushaar Garg will join the organisation as Business Director of the Indian office.

TSA India has an established presence with 3 offices in India in Mumbai (Powai), viagra Delhi NCR (Gurgaon) and Bangalore. 

Tushaar Garg joins TSA effective immediately. He will report to Suvrangsu Mukherjee, Managing Director of the Indian Subcontinent. 

Prior to joining TSA, Tushaar worked with IMG India for 4 years where his most notable experience was the marketing of the central commercial program of the IPL since its inception in 2008. With IPL, a good example of one the world’s most successful new sports property launches, he gained enormous experience in the workings of a major ‘start up’ sport business project conducting business in India.

He also worked as the General Director of UAE Beach Soccer, a start-up project of the Dubai Sports Council in partnership with the UAE Football Association endorsed by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), the agency tasked with promoting Dubai as a year-round destination of events and retail promotions, better known for organising the Dubai Shopping Festival. 

“I am pleased to have Tushaar join our team. His relevant experience combined with his learning at FIFA Master make him a strong choice. Tushaar will contribute in growing TSA’s current business and also play a crucial role in assisting the leadership of TSA as we negotiate the complex challenges in the development of a new growth chapter in TSA’s history,” said Mukherjee 

“Joining TSA is a homecoming for me. I am delighted to be joining TSA led by my former colleague and long-time mentor Suvrangsu. I believe in TSAs clear focus on emerging markets and emerging trends in sports marketing to drive growth and look forward to working under his leadership again,” said Garg. Tushaar is also a former Tennis Player.

The sports bidding for a place at the 2020 Olympics will be shortlisted during the SportAccord Convention in St. Petersburg, story Russia, generic order from 29-31 May where the IOC Executive Board will meet. 

The eight candidate sports – baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding, wrestling and wushu – attempting to gain inclusion in the Olympic Programme at the 2020 and 2024 Gameswill present to the Executive Board, who will then decide which sports to recommend to the 125th IOC Session to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September.

Each sport has been allocated a 30 minute slot in which to present their case to the Executive Board.

Following all eight presentations, the Executive Board will decide which bids will remain on the shortlist, with a public announcement on their decision scheduled to be made on the evening of May 29 in St Petersburg by the IOC director of communications Mark Adams.

The Summer Olympic International Federations and the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations will join the Executive Board to hear reports on the IOC’s latest activities and receive updates on preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and PyeongChang 2018.

Read our latest report on all eight bidding sports here>>

Security firm G4S, who’s public security failings at the London Olympics, said the fiasco would cost it £50 million ($79.1m) and it was fighting to rebuild its reputation.

Under-fire boss Nick Buckles, hauled before MPs last month to explain why troops had to be drafted in to fill the shortfall, pledged on Tuesday there would be no repeat problems at the Paralympic Games, starting on Wednesday.

He also said there were no signs the company was losing contracts or not winning new ones and that, with 3.8 billion pounds of work per year in its pipeline, it should bounce back.

However, not all analysts were convinced, pointing to the company’s decision to freeze its interim dividend, and G4S shares were down over 2 percent in morning trade.

“The unchanged interim dividend suggests some caution from management, especially with a number of key government contract decisions coming up during H2 2012,” said Panmure’s Mike Allen.

Over half of G4S’s British revenue comes from government contracts, with more than 20 percent of its pipeline also stemming from that market, including deals to run prisons and some police services due later this year.

The firm said 50 million pounds was its estimate for the cost of paying military and police personnel drafted in to cover the shortfall in guards, as well as potential penalties and liabilities.

G4S managed to provide 7,800 staff for the Olympic Games at peak times, compared with a promised 10,400.

At the London 2012 Olympic Games the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will bid farewell to standard definition for all major sports events.

The EBU has made a considerable long-term investment in its Eurovision satellite and fibre network, click ensuring that more than 70 EBU Members holding rights can flawlessly access all 12 HD multilateral signals.

As part of the network upgrade, price order the EBU gave these Members up to eight MPEG 4 decoders each, try to give European public service media and the audiences they serve optimal transmission quality. 

Eurovision Network Director Graham Warren said the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games marked a milestone in the live sports transmission industry.

He added: “This is a turning point for Eurovision, and the beginning of the end of standard definition. Until now we have always provided parallel SD and HD signals, but this is the first big event where we have focused all our energy on HD alone.”

Occupying a square kilometre of the International Broadcasting Centre, in London, the EBU will run 12 simultaneous multilateral transmissions and three unilateral feeds for up to 13 hours a day for the duration of both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has been re-elected for a sixth term as president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at the organisation’s general assembly in Tokyo on Thursday.

English Rugby Union club Harlequins has extended its agreement with sports agency EXP to continue to work as the club’s full service sponsorship agency until at least 2015.

EXP Sport was founded by Laura Oakes, viagra and the relationship between the two parties began in July 2008, seek after leaving her position as head of sponsorship at Harlequins. Laura was responsible for the restructuring of Harlequins’ sponsorship portfolio and signing several new sponsors including the main sponsor, diagnosis Etihad Airways, a deal which has since recently been renewed.

The new deal was reached after EXP Sport’s impressive track record working with the club to significantly increase its commercial revenue. The agency has successfully renegotiated several key partnerships in the past 12 months including sponsorships with LV=, Greene King and Norton Rose and continues to work closely with Harlequins to activate their partners’ sponsorships throughout the season and at large scale events.

Laura Oakes said: “EXP Sport is delighted to announce that our deal with Harlequins FC has been renewed. Our business has grown significantly over the last three years but the relationship with Harlequins has always been of great importance especially in establishing EXP Sport as a credible agency and the success that we have had, not only in securing sponsorships for the club but also in the way the relationship has worked, has undoubtedly assisted us in securing other clients within the sports sector. We look forward to working with them over the next four years and continuing to build what is a very sound sponsorship program for the club.”

Mark Evans, chief executive of Harlequins, added: “EXP Sport has demonstrated to us the benefits of working with an external agency whilst delivering an in-house level of service. They offer us the opportunity to access a wider network of potential sponsors and to keep up to date with the sponsorship market whilst their relationship with the club has helped us to retain our partners by delivering a first class account management service. We look forward to continuing to work with them.”