Los Angeles, California Sep 28, 2018 (Issuewire.com) - YM&U (formally James Grant Group), the leading integrated management company for clients in sports, music, and entertainment has partnered with private equity firm Trilantic Europe in a multi-million-dollar investment deal. Alongside this partnership announcement, the Group has officially renamed its holding company YM&U Group unifying the business under a new holding company name.
The Group has twelve trading entities namely, Deckstar, Furniss Lawton, Hall or Nothing, Impact Sports Management, James Grant, James Grant Management Inc., James Grant Music, James Grant Sport, Machine Management, OJK, Rabbit and Troika. All divisions will be re-branded YM&U as from 1st January 2019 with the exception of Troika, which will retain its trading name for the foreseeable future.YM&U’s new partnership with Trilantic Europe represents an important milestone in the Group’s evolution. This new partnership will allow the Group to continue to implement its plan to become a leader in its field on both sides of the Atlantic.
The investment from Trilantic Europe will see them become the Group’s largest shareholder, with the balance of the equity being held by the management and employees of the business. YM&U’s executive team will remain in place and continue to run the Group. The key objective remains to improve the range and depth of services provided to their clients.
YM&U is an UK and US based company that provides professional career advice to clients in the comedy, broadcast, social, music, film and stage, and sports sectors. It has expanded rapidly in recent years through both organic and acquisition growth. Recent additions to the Group include the football sports agency Impact SM, their clients include Harry Winks, Sean Dyche, Chris Hughton, and Alex McCarthy; and music management company Machine Management, who represent Clean Bandit, Years & Years and Mika.
In 2017, the Group merged with LA-based music management firm Deckstar, whose clients include Steve Aoki, Blink-182, Cheat Codes, Rancid, and Bush; as well as 10 Management, who represent Take That. It also added leading rugby agency Top Marque Sports, whose clients include Dan Cole, Simon Zebo, Liam Williams, Jonathan Joseph, Charlie Faumuina and Tommy Seymour to its stable; together with comedy, film and stage and entertainment management company Troika, whose clients include Keeley Hawes, Ellie Taylor, Rachel Parris, Richard Madden, Michael Fassbender, Graham Norton, Matt Lucas, Karen Gillan and Jamie Dornan.
YM&U chief executive Neil Rodford, who also led JGG, commented, “We are delighted to join forces with Trilantic Europe, whose management team has the experience we require on both sides of the Atlantic, which made them the obvious choice for us as a management team. “We look forward to working with our new partners on enhancing our services as we seek to grow materially in the coming months and years. We are excited about the future of the Group and creating an environment where exceptional people want to express themselves whether they be clients or colleagues.”
Trilantic Europe focuses on mid-market transactions, tailoring solutions for businesses using its expertise and operating knowledge to accelerate growth and enhance value creation. The firm has a long track record investing in European companies where the team’s flexibility, extensive resources, know-how, and country/industry expertise is leveraged to support companies through their next stage of development.
Joe Cohen, Trilantic Europe Partner, commented: “We have been impressed by the breadth and depth of YM&U’s business and its first-class provision of management and professional services in the world of sport, entertainment, film, and music. Few companies have the range of services and the professional expertise that YM&U can offer. We look forward to working with management to expand the company’s services and to further grow YM&U both organically and by identifying acquisitions that share a common cultural fit and sector focus.”
About Trilantic Europe:
Trilantic Europe is a leading European private equity firm focused on control and co-control investments in leading mid-market companies. Trilantic Europe currently manages two institutional private equity funds with aggregate capital commitments of €1.5 billion. In addition to the TMT sector, Trilantic Europe invests across industries including, consumer & leisure, healthcare, industrials, and business services. Read more at trilanticeurope.com.
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