Entertainment Partners (EP), an end-to-end provider of production workforce management and automated production software and services to the entertainment industry, is to be acquired by TPG Capital, the private equity platform of global alternative asset firm TPG.
EP’s management team, led by Mark Goldstein, President and CEO, will continue in their roles.
Goldstein says: “We’re thrilled to have found a partner that is excited about our strategic vision as we support the evolution of the entertainment industry. Through decades of hard work and dedication by our talented team, and through a rewarding collaboration with the experts – our clients – we have made great strides toward digitalising and integrating production workflow. We now begin an exciting new chapter in which the significant resources and expertise of TPG will greatly accelerate our vision. We look forward to a productive long-term partnership that advances our opportunities to deliver phenomenal service to our clients.”
EP partners with the production community to provide industry-leading technology solutions and services that support clients’ efficiency, productivity, compliance and security. EP has pioneered significant innovations that are unique in the entertainment industry, digitalising the entire, end-to-end back-office processes of film and television production through its SmartStudio suite, and transforming the workflows of the entertainment industry from pre-production, to filming and production, to residual payment processing.
David Trujillo, Partner at TPG, says: “Our investment in Entertainment Partners is the culmination of years of work in the entertainment software and payroll technology industry. Entertainment Partners is the market leader in this sector and we are excited to partner with management on their client-first vision for the company. Having invested in the continued proliferation of content across various forms of media, we believe in Entertainment Partners’ strong potential for innovation and accelerated growth.”
Colin M Henderson, President of Dallas-based Strategic Investment Counsel Corporation, has served as the Company’s Trustee, providing governance to EP since the inception of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan in 2004.
“It has been extremely rewarding to work with Entertainment Partners and witness the impact they have made,” says Henderson. “This transaction represents an outstanding win for their client base, management and employees, and ultimately the production community.”
Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, have not been disclosed. American Discovery Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Company in this transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as M&A counsel to the Company in this transaction.
