Veronis Suhler Stevenson has made a minority investment in Cast & Crew Entertainment Services in conjunction with the previously announced acquisition of the company by ZM Capital, Zelnick Media’s private equity fund.
“We are thrilled to have partners who will continue to champion our aggressive investments in technology, personnel and workflow processes with a proven track record of taking media and entertainment companies to the next level of success,” said Eric Belcher, Cast & Crew’s CEO.
Cast & Crew Entertainment Services is a provider of payroll and other business process outsourcing (BPO) services to the film, television, live entertainment and commercial production markets in North America. Production companies use the company’s services to manage payroll processing and related regulatory filings; production accounting software; workers’ compensation insurance coverage and claims administration; residuals processing; procurement and purchasing services; labor relations; and production incentives guidance and reporting. Cast & Crew is headquartered in Burbank, CA and has field operations in New York, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Detroit, Philadelphia and Wilmington. Canadian offices are located in Toronto and Vancouver. The company was founded in 1976 (www.castandcrew.com).
“Cast & Crew has an exceptionally strong and forward-thinking management team, a great reputation among its customer base, and industry-leading services and software,” said Hal Greenberg, Partner, VSS Structured Capital II. “We welcomed the opportunity to partner with ZM Capital, Eric Belcher and his team to seek to accelerate organic growth. Furthermore, the investment in Cast & Crew is an excellent example of VSS’s commitment to investing in the business services sector.”
Veronis Suhler Stevenson is a private equity and debt capital fund management company that invests in the media, information and education industries in North America and Europe. The firm provides capital for buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings and strategic acquisitions to companies and management teams with a goal to build companies both organically and through a focused add-on acquisition program. Since the closing of the first VSS buyout fund in 1987, VSS has managed four buyout funds and two structured capital funds with aggregate committed capital in excess of $3.1 billion. The six funds have to date invested approximately $2.7 billion in 71 portfolio companies which have in turn completed over 320 add-on acquisitions. Veronis Suhler Stevenson is based in New York (www.vss.com).
ZM Capital invests in media companies in which the partnership’s capital resources, industry relationships and operational experience can enhance growth and value. The firm is based in New York (www.zelnickmedia.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-5-13
