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CAA has formed CAA Evolution, an investment bank and advisory firm poised to make deals across sports, media and entertainment.
The new entity was created through a combination of CAA’s 15-year-old merchant bank, Evolution Media Capital, and boutique strategic advisory firm M. Klein & Company.
CAA Evolution’s workforce of nearly 60 employees will be based in New York, LA and London.
The newly constituted venture enlarges CAA’s scope of activity beyond its existing presence in media rights deals and capital raises. CAA Evolution will advise on IPOs; fund and capital formation services; and strategic access to a range of institutional capital sources, according to a press release. It will also advise executives and boards on matters ranging from talent sourcing and PR/IR management to potential activist defense, board dispute resolution and evaluating unsolicited offers.
MKC’s founder, Michael Klein, has more than 35 years of experience advising companies and boards of directors on a range of initiatives and transactions. Beyond the scope of CAA Evolution, the firm will continue to operate as a stand-alone business spanning a number of industrial sectors.
EMC, founded in 2008 by Robert Stanley, has worked with a number of entertainment and sports outfits, advising on M&A, capital raises and other transactions. EMC’s sports media advisory practice, led by President of CAA Evolution Alan Gold, has advised on, structured, and negotiated deals for major sports leagues, federations, conferences and teams, as well as helping shape their streaming and digital strategies.
Collectively, the two firms have advised on more than $1.5 trillion in transactions, according to CAA. The company itself has recently undergone its own corporate transformation, with French luxury goods billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault taking a majority stake via his family holding company Artemis. The deal closed last month, at a reported valuation of $7 billion.
“Bob, Alan, and the EMC team have done an extraordinary job capitalizing on CAA’s uniquely vast set of relationships, resources, and industry intelligence in the sports and entertainment fields to become a premier strategic and financial services provider in these important industries,” Klein said. “We look forward to bringing together the best of MKC and EMC to give CAA Evolution clients an offering like no other in the market.”
CAA President Jim Burtson praised Klein and MKC for their “sophisticated understanding of global markets, corporate strategy and key industry trends, combined with deep experience in crafting state-of-the-art deals.”
