Entertainment Partners Announces Investment From TPG

BURBANK, Calif., March 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Entertainment Partners ("EP" or the "Company"), the leading global end-to-end provider of production workforce management and automated production software and services to the entertainment industry, announced today that it has reached an agreement 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 noted, "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 digitizing 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, digitizing 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, said, "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," noted 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, were not 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.

About Entertainment Partners  

Entertainment Partners (EP) is the global leader in entertainment payroll, workforce management, residuals, tax incentives, finance, and other integrated production management solutions with offices across the U.S. and Canada. Currently on a mission to digitize the paper-heavy back office processes of entertainment production, EP combines unparalleled expertise and innovative technology to enable its clients to produce the most cost-effective and efficient film, television, digital, and commercial projects. Its accounting systems and Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling programs have long been industry standards and its SmartStudio suite, comprised of SmartAccounting, SmartStart, SmartTime, Scenechronize, SmartHub, SmartResiduals and SmartCards, is the first end-to-end integrated platform connecting the production community and providing new insights for better collaboration and decision making. Its renowned incentives teams assist and advise productions all around the world, and casting and payroll for background actors are handled through its legendary Central Casting division, a Hollywood icon since 1925.

About TPG

TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $103 billion of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul and Singapore. TPG's investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth venture, real estate, credit, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.

Media Contact

TPG Capital
Luke Barrett
415-743-1550
[email protected]

Entertainment Partners
Ron Cogan
818-955-6295
[email protected]

SOURCE Entertainment Partners