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CAA’s ICM takeover on hold due to antitrust investigation
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 17 January 2022
Talent agency CAA’s acquisition of rival ICM Partners has reportedly been delayed due to an investigation by the US Department Of Justice’s competition law division.
The takeover deal was announced in September last year, with CAA seemingly particularly keen to get its hands on ICM’s growing sports division. It was originally expected that the acquisition would be completed by the end of 2021. However, this has now been pushed pack to the second quarter of this year, pending the outcome of regulator intervention.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the competition investigation may have been triggered as a result of concerns raised by Hollywood unions such as the Writers Guild Of America or Screen Actors Guild. However, CAA co-Chairman Bryan Lourd says that he is “very confident” that the deal will be approved.
“We obviously have gotten great advice from our advisors at [law firm] Wachtell Lipton and [investment bank] Allen & Co, and everyone is very confident about that part of this”, Lourd tells THR. “We don’t know if they will want to talk to us or not, in the scheme of things this is not a major deal like some of the other deals we are all watching and reading, but we are very confident”.
It is not currently clear exactly when the investigation is likely to be completed.
