Private equity firm Crestview Partners has acquired a minority stake in The Gersh Agency, the Hollywood talent agency representing Spike Lee and actors including J. Smith Cameron, who plays as Gerri in the HBO hit television series Succession.
(Bloomberg) — Private equity firm Crestview Partners has acquired a minority stake in The Gersh Agency, the Hollywood talent agency representing Spike Lee and actors including J. Smith Cameron, who plays as Gerri in the HBO hit television series Succession.
Crestview is buying a 45% stake in the company, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because the terms aren’t public. It’s not clear how much the deal values Gersh, who’s partnership group retains a majority stake.
There was no sales process for the acquisition and this is first time that Gersh has raised money from an institutional investor, the person added.
“Our partnership with Crestview and our new management structure, made up of a strong leadership team, is an exciting next step in continuing the agency’s momentum and success,” Leslie Siebert, a senior managing partner at Gersh who will become co-president as part of the deal, said in a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News.
As private equity’s interest in the talent representation business continues to heat up, funds from the deal will be used to help accelerate Gersh’s growth strategy domestically and internationally, the statement showed.
Representatives for Crestview and Gersh confirmed the contents of the statement, while declining to comment on the terms.
Gersh, one of the oldest representation firms in the business, was founded in 1949 by Phil Gersh. Today it operates with 300 employees with offices in both Beverly Hills and New York. The full-service talent agency has about 125 agents across nine departments including theater, production, literary, books, digital and more.
The talent representation industry is no stranger to Crestview Partners. The New York-based firm backed ICM Partners before it was acquired last year by Creative Artists Agency, the mainstream talent agency backed by buyout firm TPG Inc.
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