WPP has today confirmed it has sold its minority shareholding in the sports and entertainment group Chime for £54.4 million ($A98.5 million).

Chime is headquartered in London and is the holding company for a portfolio of companies which include sports marketing, public relations, advertising, digital, marketing, research, corporate responsibility and healthcare communications.

The sale is in line with WPP CEO Mark Read’s (main photo) edict to sell-off underperforming parts of the WPP business and merge others were appropriate.

The sale was announced via a short statement to media today. Read the statement in full below:

WPP today announces the sale of its minority shareholding in Chime Group Holdings Limited, the sports, entertainment and communications group, to the majority shareholder Providence for £54.4m and potential additional amounts based on the future value of Chime.

The disposal is in line with WPP’s new strategy as set out in December 2018, a key element of which is to focus on its main areas of business and simplify its operations through the disposal of non-core assets.