M. Klein & Co. and Creative Artists Agency are joining forces to launch CAAEvolution, a new investment bank, the firms said on Monday.
CAAEvolution is made up up CAA’s merchant banking unit, Evolution Media Capital, and staff from M. Klein & Co., to specialize deal-making in the entertainment, sports and media arenas.
The firms describe CAAEvolution as a “partnership forged in innovation and heritage, uniting the global reach of the world’s premier sports and entertainment agency, with Wall Street’s preeminent advisor,” according to CAAEvolution’s website.
With about 60 people in offices in London, New York and Los Angeles, CAA Evolution will compete with The Raine Group and LionTree, according to The Wall Street Journal, which initially reported the formation of CAAEvolution.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
M. Klein & Co., which was founded in 2012 by ex-Citigroup Inc.
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banker Michael Klein, will remain focused on deals outside of the entertainment sector.
The tie-up comes after Evolution Media Capital was formed in 2008 as CAA’s merchant bank to offer “an unparalleled combination of industry foresight and financial acumen, enabling us to guide our clients through an ever-evolving, dynamic landscape with dexterity and vision.”
On the investment-banking side, CAAEvolution is offering services such as advising on mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, and capital raising, activism defense, initial public offerings, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and corporate restructuring.
The team at CAAEvolution has also worked on more than $80 billion of media rights deals for clients such as the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, and NASCAR.
In April, Credit Suisse and Michael Klein ended an agreement for the Swiss bank to acquire boutique investment banking arm The Klein Group, LLC due to its planned takeover by UBS Group AG
UBS,
according to a brief announcement within Credit Suisse’s first-quarter results.
The deal, first announced in February, saw Credit Suisse set to acquire the ex-Citigroup banker’s investment firm for $175 million and merge the business into Credit Suisse’s CS First Boston investment banking unit, led by Klein.
Anviksha Patel contributed to this story
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