Payroll Specialist Cast & Crew Sold to Investment Fund EQT VIII
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Payroll specialist Cast & Crew Entertainment Services has been sold by Silver Lake to the investment Fund EQT VIII for an undisclosed price.
, based in Burbank, Calif., and founded in 1976, touts itself as the premier provider of technology-enabled payroll and production-management services to the entertainment industry. Services include payroll processing, residuals processing, workers’ compensation services, labor relations, production incentives and production tax credit financing. It has approximately 700 employees.
EQT and Silver Lake, which bought Cast & Crew in 2015, announced the deal Monday. EQT said it will support Cast & Crew’s next phase of development as the company focuses on accelerating product and service expansion in current and new verticals and leverage its local European presence and Industrial Advisor Network to accelerate the company’s international expansion, initially focused in Europe.
Kasper Knokgaard, partner at EQT Partners, said, “We have been very impressed with the Company’s performance and vision for continued transformation in the entertainment industry. We are delighted to have the opportunity to help shape the next phase of growth for Cast & Crew, together with an exceptionally talented group of people being led by CEO Eric Belcher and President John Berkley — supported by an outstanding executive management team.”
Belcher said in a statement, “We are all proud of what Cast & Crew has achieved in recent years under Silver Lake’s stewardship as our majority shareholder. We have built a very strong foundation for the future across software products,ch value-added services and a very strong employee base focused on customer service and success. We are delighted to partner with EQT and leverage its international presence and deep sector expertise within media, technology and services as we move through the next phase of our continued growth.”
In two deals announced in 2016, Cast & Crew bought CAPS Payroll and screenwriting software leader Final Draft. It did not disclose the price of either deal.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC., Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Aon served as advisers to EQT VIII. Moelis & Company LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as lead financial advisers to Cast & Crew. Cast & Crew was also advised by J.P. Morgan. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal adviser.
