The firm will look to make investments focused primarily in the sports, media and entertainment industries.

Ben Sutton Jr, an entrepreneur in the sports and entertainment industry, has formed a private equity company called Teall Investments.

Teall Investments looks to make investments in innovative, high-growth potential lifestyle brands and services focused primarily in the sports, media, marketing and entertainment industries, the firm said in a statement. 

Sutton serves as chairman, founder and chief executive of Teall Investments, which is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia and San Francisco, California.

Sutton founded ISP Sports in Winston-Salem in 1992, and is experienced in sports marketing, broadcast, publishing, sponsorship services, ticketing and stadium seating.  The company merged into IMG College in 2010.  Sutton, who became chairman and president of IMG College in 2010 and had served as chairman emeritus since September 2015, left IMG College late last year to focus his efforts on Teall. 

Joining Sutton on Teall Investments' executive management team are seven individuals, including six who were previously members of the senior leadership at ISP Sports and IMG College: - Wes Day, vice president, investments - Lou Doherty, general counsel - Kelli Hilliard, chief people officer - Rex Hough, senior vice president of business development - Anna Barton Kolda, vice president, chief of staff - Mark McKeen, chief information officer - Joe Weatherly, chief financial officer

"I worked side by side with this group of individuals for years as we created the best sports marketing team in America, bar none,” said Sutton. “Each of them is incredibly talented and dedicated, and we are all excited to be part of a new team at Teall Investments."

Sutton added: “The American entrepreneurial spirit defines Teall Investments' leadership team, and we've already hit the ground running with tremendous success in a couple of our investments.  This highly competitive leadership team which built from scratch most of what is IMG College today, certainly understands that the sky is the limit for what we can accomplish together at Teall Investments."  

The development comes at a time when wealth management firms around the world have built out client segments to appeal to different population groups, including those in the sports fields. Firms include SunTrust, which has an offering geared specifically to sports figures; BNP Paribas, the French bank, advises sports industry figures. Coutts, the UK bank, has a specialist segment aimed at sports, media and entertainment clients.