Silver Lake is laying its hands on the Cast & Crew Entertainment Services LLC to tighten its grip over entertainment industry in providing payroll, production accounting, health insurance and other services.
The deal between Silver Lake and Cast & Crew is worth $700 million including debt, according to Bloomberg sources. Silver Lake is buying the firm from New York private-equity firm ZM Capital LP. The pricing details of the deal didn’t disclose yet.
The firm in addition to providing payroll and health insurance services to entertainment industry also keeps hold of residuals, manages employees returns and labor relations issues. The firm has ten offices in North America and one in London.
The support of Silver Lake will enable the Cast & Crew to tackle with clients, “in a rapidly evolving entertainment landscape,” said Eric Belcher, Cast & Crew chief executive. The increased production of online content by online streaming companies like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have boosted demands of services from firms like Cast & Crew.
Silver Lake invests in technology-enabled firms and is the U.S largest technology-focused private equity firm. ZM Capital LP, specializes in investing in entertainment and media companies, owned majority of Cast & Crew shares since December 2012, acquired the firm from ABRY Partners LLC. Cast & Crew’s management will own a small stake in the firm, the people told Bloomberg.
The deal arrives at a time when private-equity firms continue to sell companies at a rapid rate than in past partly because of the increased demand from business buyers in addition to demand from other private equity firms.
The deal marks the latest foray of Silver Lake in the entertainment industry, the firm has already investments in companies like Alibaba Group Holding, Dell Inc., and Skype. In 2012, the firm made a strategic partnership with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC, the international talent organization, which procured IMG Worldwide Inc. in May 2014.
