ICM Partners Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors

ICM Partners was acquired by Creative Artists Agency for $750M in September 2021.

ICM Partners acquisition price

$750M

Acquired by Creative Artists Agency · Sep 2021

Cumulative funding ICM Partners raised

$150M

across 1 funding round

Key investors in ICM Partners

  • Crestview Partners

ICM Partners Overview

About ICM Partners

ICM Partners was a Los Angeles talent and literary agency, headquartered at Constellation Place in Century City with offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and London, that represented clients in film, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded entertainment, new media and sport. It was formed in 1975 as International Creative Management through the merger of Marvin Josephson's International Famous Agency and Freddie Fields' Creative Management Associates, and took the ICM Partners name after a management buyout in 2012. The agency earned commissions on its clients' contracts, and its publishing roster included Patricia Cornwell, Thomas Friedman, Walter Isaacson and the estates of Dr. Seuss and Arthur Miller. It grew by acquisition: Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann in 2006, the speakers agency Royce Carlton in 2017, a stake in Just For Laughs in 2018, a partnership with London music agency Primary Talent International in 2020, and in October 2020 the Stellar Group, the world's largest football agency, rebranded ICM Stellar Sports. In July 2021 it bought the NFL agency Select Sports Group. Crestview Partners acquired a one-third stake in December 2019, and Creative Artists Agency agreed to buy ICM in September 2021, closing the US$750 million deal in June 2022.


Founded

1975

HQ

United StatesLos Angeles, CA

Status

Acquired

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Commission

Valuation

$450M (Dec 2019)

ICM Partners Acquisition

ICM Partners was acquired by Creative Artists Agency for $750M on 27 September 2021.

Before the acquisition ICM Partners had raised $150M across 1 funding round.

Creative Artists Agency agreed to acquire ICM Partners in September 2021 in a deal that valued ICM at about USD 750 million. The transaction waited roughly ten months for antitrust review and closed in June 2022. The combined company was reported to have a pro forma enterprise value of about USD 5 billion, and ICM chairman Chris Silbermann joined CAA's shareholder board. About 425 ICM employees were set to join CAA, with around 105 expected to be laid off, leaving the enlarged agency with roughly 3,200 employees across 25 countries. Allen & Company advised CAA and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as its legal counsel. ICM Partners is a Los Angeles-based talent and literary agency representing actors, directors, writers, authors and musicians, and it was one of the four largest Hollywood agencies. The deal reduced the group of leading talent agencies from four to three, leaving WME and UTA as the main competitors to the combined CAA.

ICM Partners acquisition details
AcquirerDateTypePrice
27 Sep 2021Strategic M&A$750M

Sources: hollywoodreporter.com

ICM Partners Valuation

ICM Partners is currently valued at $450M, based on its undisclosed-stage round in December 2019.

The $150M round was led by Crestview Partners.

ICM Partners valuation by funding round

ICM Partners valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Dec 2019Undisclosed stage$450M

ICM Partners Funding History

ICM Partners has raised a total of $150M across 1 funding round.

ICM Partners funding rounds

ICM Partners funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Dec 2019Undisclosed stageCrestview Partners (lead)$150M$450MICM Partners, a leading global talent agency representing clients in entertainment including music, TV, film, and digital media, sold a minority stake to Crestview Partners on December 16, 2019, to fund expansion. The deal involved Crestview investing approximately $150 million for about a one-third ownership stake according to contemporary reports, though a later analysis implies a $300 million valuation based on a ~50% stake equivalent. Funds were earmarked for acquiring other agencies, international growth particularly in Europe and the UK, recruiting top agents, and rewarding employees across all levels, while ICM's agent partnership retained majority control and operational leadership under CEO Chris Silbermann. This investment marked a shift for ICM, which had previously bought out private equity owner Rizvi Traverse in 2012 to maintain agent-led independence amid concerns over cash flow pressures. Crestview, a New York-based firm managing over $9 billion with a media focus, partnered to accelerate ICM's domestic and global strategy amid rising demand for content creators. Advisors included Lazard, Sheppard Mullin, and Latham & Watkins for ICM, and Davis Polk for Crestview. Under Crestview's involvement, ICM pursued growth including music and sports expansion and a 2020 UK agency acquisition, with EBITDA reportedly growing 2.5x before its 2021 sale to Creative Artists Agency (CAA) at a $750 million valuation, roughly doubling Crestview's return in two years.

Who has invested in ICM Partners?

1 investor has backed ICM Partners across its funding rounds, including Crestview Partners.

Lead investors include Crestview Partners.


ICM Partners Investors

Investors in ICM Partners by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check

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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

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Acquisitions by ICM Partners

ICM Partners has acquired 4 companies to date.

Last acquisition by ICM Partners was on July 27th 2021. ICM Partners acquired Select Sports Group for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by ICM Partners

Select Sports Group
Stellar Group
Primary Talent
Royce Carlton
Description
Select Sports Group is an American NFL player-representation agency based in Texas, led by agents Erik Burkhardt and Jeff Nalley, which became part of ICM Stellar Sports in 2021. The agency negotiated playing contracts and handled endorsements, marketing and career planning for professional football players, and also represented coaches and executives. Its clients included quarterbacks Kyler Murray, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick, Taysom Hill and Bradley Chubb, along with Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury and Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry, and it represented a total of 35 first-round draft picks and 35 Pro Bowl players. Like other agencies it earned commissions on the contracts and marketing deals it negotiated. In July 2021 ICM Partners and its sports arm, ICM Stellar Sports, bought Select Sports Group outright, making it wholly owned by ICM Stellar Sports; Burkhardt and Nalley became co-presidents of the NFL representation division alongside Reggie Johnson. ICM Stellar Sports represented more than 800 athletes in ten countries, mainly in soccer, and used the deal to build its American football business. ICM Partners was later acquired by CAA, and the football practice now sits within CAA Sports.
Stellar Group is a British sports management and representation agency based in London that represents professional athletes, above all footballers, and now operates as CAA Stellar within Creative Artists Agency. It negotiates playing contracts and transfers, handles commercial and endorsement deals and provides career and media advice, earning commissions and fees on the contracts and deals it arranges. When it was sold in October 2020 it represented more than 800 athletes with contracts worth about $3 billion, employed 130 staff and had offices in London, the United States, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands and Uruguay. Clients have included Gareth Bale, whose world-record move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid it arranged, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Saúl Ñíguez, as well as NFL players such as Jameis Winston; its early clients included cricketer Brian Lara, and it is credited with bringing boxer Lennox Lewis into the professional sport. The agency was founded in 1992 by Jonathan Barnett, whom Forbes named the world's most powerful sports agent in 2019, and David Manasseh. Hollywood agency ICM Partners acquired Stellar in October 2020, forming ICM Stellar Sports, and ICM was itself acquired by CAA in 2022; Barnett retired as an agent in 2024.
Primary Talent is a London-based booking agency representing electronic music artists like Bonobo, Four Tet, and Peggy Gou. It handles tours and festivals worldwide, including Glastonbury and Coachella lineups. The roster spans 100 acts across house, techno, and drum & bass genres for promoters in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Royce Carlton is a New York-based speakers bureau representing 80 exclusive lecturers for corporate events, conferences, and keynotes. Its roster includes Nobel laureates, former heads of state, and business leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Arianna Huffington, booking engagements globally.
HQ CountryUnited StatesUnited KingdomUnited KingdomUnited States
HQ City
Houston, TX
London
London
New York City, NY
Deal Date27 Jul 20218 Oct 202010 Mar 202024 Oct 2017
Valuationundisclosedundisclosedundisclosedundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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ICM Partners Competitors

ICM Partners competitors include listed companies like APG SGA, Entravision and Arabian Contracting Services, and private ones like Freechat, Hootsuite and Brunswick Group.

Public and private companies comparable to ICM Partners
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
APG SGASwitzerlandSwitzerlandPublicly listed$400M$53M$745M1.7x
FreechatHong KongHong KongPrivate$40M-$800M20.0x
HootsuiteCanadaVancouverPrivate--$800M-
Brunswick GroupUnited KingdomLondonPrivate--$692M-
EntravisionUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$448M($71M)$830M-
Arabian Contracting ServicesSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaPublicly listed$521M$353M$650M5.2x

ICM Partners Public Comps

ICM Partners is no longer listed, but its public comps include APG SGA, Entravision, Arabian Contracting Services, FS Development Investment, oOh media, Ciwen Media Co, Vector, Innocean, Beijing Quanshi World and Plan B Media.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
APG SGA$400M$53M1.8x1.7x13.6x12.5x
Entravision$448M($71M)2.1x-(13.2x)-
Arabian Contracting Services$521M$353M4.3x5.2x6.3x9.8x
FS Development Investment$153M($17M)4.0x-(37.0x)-
oOh media$479M$207M2.9x2.8x6.7x14.5x
Ciwen Media Co$60M($515K)10.2x-(1177.7x)-
Vector$403M$66M1.3x1.3x8.1x7.5x
Innocean$1.6B$135M0.1x0.1x1.2x0.9x

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Common questions about ICM Partners

When was ICM Partners founded?ICM Partners was founded in 1975.
Where is ICM Partners headquartered?ICM Partners is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Is ICM Partners publicly listed?No, ICM Partners was acquired by Creative Artists Agency in September 2021.
Who acquired ICM Partners?ICM Partners was acquired by Creative Artists Agency in September 2021.
How much was ICM Partners acquired for?ICM Partners was acquired for $750M in September 2021.
What is ICM Partners' valuation?ICM Partners was last valued at $450M in its undisclosed-stage round in December 2019.
How much funding has ICM Partners raised?ICM Partners has raised $150M across 1 funding round.
What was ICM Partners' last funding round?ICM Partners' last funding round was a $150M undisclosed-stage round in December 2019, led by Crestview Partners.
Who are ICM Partners' investors?ICM Partners' investors include Crestview Partners.
Which companies are comparable to ICM Partners?Companies comparable to ICM Partners include APG SGA, Freechat, Hootsuite, Brunswick Group, Entravision and Arabian Contracting Services.
How many companies has ICM Partners acquired?ICM Partners has acquired 4 companies, including Select Sports Group, Stellar Group, Primary Talent and Royce Carlton.

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