The former Credit Suisse board member was at the center of the abortive CS First Boston spinoff. But now he has found new partners in Tinseltown.
Michael Klein is starting a new investment bank together with Creative Artists Agency (CAA). with a focus on sports, media, and entertainment, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Massive Business
According to the newspaper CAA's merchant bank and Evolution Media Capital will join together with M. Klein & Co to become and become CAA Evolution. The new entity will advise large entertainment conglomerates, help with M&A related to sports teams, and advise on potential IPO opportunities.
The new investment bank will be competing with specialist banks such as LionTree and Raine Group, which are internationally renowned for their sports and media advisory activities. As an example, Raine was involved in the sale of London football club Chelsea.
Known Dealmaker
CAA Evolution will have about 60 employees in New York, Los Angeles, and London and it plans to hire additional staff in coming years. M. Klein & Co. was founded in 2012 by a team of experienced dealmakers and it will continue its activities outside of sports, media, and entertainment.
Klein, who is known for his close links to clients in the Middle East, was once part of a short-lived plan by Credit Suisse to spin off its investment bank into CS First Boston. The plan became moot when UBS took over Switzerland's then-second-largest bank.
Ideal Time
Klein told the «WSJ» that CAA Evolution is being established at an ideal time given that the greater sports ecosystem is growing significantly from year to year, partly because private equity firms and government investment entities are investing in the sector massively.
