Brian Lawton, Director of Octagon’s Hockey Division, announced today that Octagon has acquired Kelly Management Group Inc. (KMGI), a long-established hockey agency founded by Larry Kelly and based in Ottawa, Ontario.
The acquisition bolsters Octagon’s Hockey Division to 70 NHL players, thus creating the world’s second largest hockey representation company.
‘Strategically, the acquisition makes a lot of sense for Octagon and KMGI. Geographically, we can offer clients a comprehensive service team throughout North America. In addition, Larry’s 23 years of experience representing athletes will be a great benefit to Octagon in general and our Hockey Division in particular,’ said Lawton.
‘After a lengthy research period, I found that the merger with Octagon offers several advantages to the players at KMGI. The hockey experience and insight of Brian (Lawton) and Mike (Liut) are an invaluable asset for KMGI’s clients and Octagon’s athlete marketing and financial services divisions will provide additional opportunities for our North American and European players,’ added KMGI Founder and President Larry Kelly.
The KMGI clients join Octagon’s hockey division of Red Wings’ Sergei Fedorov, Capitals Jeff Halpern, Islanders’ Mark Parrish, Coyotes’ Keith Carney, Panthers’ Bret Hedican, Sabres’ Erik Rasmussen, Flames Brad Werenka/Oleg Saprykin, Islanders’ Bill Muckalt, Coyotes’ Sean Burke/Keith Carney and Sharks’ Alexander Korolyuk.
Outside of hockey, Octagon also manages the careers of Michael Chang, Bill Cowher, Orel Hershiser, Martina Hingis, Lenny Krayzelburg, Anna Kournikova, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Dan Reeves, David Robinson, Jerry Stackhouse and Sheryl Swoopes.
As the sports marketing and entertainment division of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world’s largest advertising and marketing communications groups, Octagon offers clients marketing-led expertise across the eight major disciplines that make up the sports and entertainment market: athlete representation, event management, consultancy, property representation, TV rights sales and distribution, TV production and archive, rights ownership, and licensing and merchandising. Only three years from its launch, Octagon employs over 1,200 people, in 19 countries on all major continents.
For Further Information Please Contact:
David Schwab
Octagon
Tel: +1 703 905 3363
david.schwab@octagon.com