It’s business as usual for venue and live event clients of CAPS Payroll following the announcement June 16 that Cast & Crew Entertainment Services has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CAPS Payroll.
Todd Dyer and Donovan Ellis, the faces of CAPS to those in the venue and live touring segments of the industry, have helped build a strong portfolio of live event clients for CAPS, Dyer said. Music tour business has grown by $30 million over $360 million in payroll in 2015 and the venue business has grown by 11 percent over a baseline of about $70 million in 2015, said Dyer, CAPS senior director of venues, music tours and festivals.
“We’re partnered with two thirds of the major festivals,” Dyer said, and now that they are finalizing an agreement with C3 Presents, CAPS has about cornered the festival market with all promoters except Live Nation, which does payroll in house. Venues clients include the Rose Quarter, Portland, Ore., and multiple theaters, with more to be announced soon.
Both Cast & Crew and CAPS are privately held by equity firms. A potential sale of CAPS first came up in the fall of last year when Eric Capogrosso, CEO and founder retired, but when Doug Sylvester was named successor CEO, speculation ceased in-house. Obviously, behind closed doors, negotiations never did cease.
The CAPS staff first heard of the pending announcement that same Thursday morning, Dyer said. While it’s still business as usual, Dyer said the upside is obvious. Cast & Crew is big in the independent film and TV markets. “My vertical is so enormous that I will continue focusing on music tours, venues and festivals” while Cast & Crew focuses on the movie and TV production worlds, but there is some potential crossover and added benefit to existing clients. For instance, YouTube artists might need services in both specialties as would a lot of music clients involved in all aspects of entertainment.
The only client where the two crossed paths historically, according to some sources, was AEG Facilities which was with CAPS and is now with Cast & Crew.
Generally, the two have focused on parallel worlds and with the merger will have access to more robust software and institutional knowledge, at the least. “Everybody is happy; I’ve heard more congratulations than concern,” Dyer said. And as tours become more and more elaborat knowledge of mammoth, seasonal payrolls like those required for movies can only help music. Cast & Crew also has a more robust global finance department, Dyer believes.
According to the press release, Silver Lake, the global technology investing leader and controlling shareholder of the 40-year-old Cast & Crew, is committing substantial additional equity to fund the acquisition and support Cast & Crew’s continued growth. Since Silver Lake’s acquisition of Cast & Crew in mid-2015, the company has accelerated investments to extend its technology leadership and strategically align the company for the digital future of the industry. Examples of recent investments include the release of new and advanced digital workflow solutions, the acquisition of screenwriting software leader Final Draft, Inc. and now the addition of CAPS, itself a technology pioneer in the entertainment subsectors it serves.
CAPS, a portfolio company of Uni-World Capital, also has a 25-year history and provides end-to-end production payroll and accounting solutions in commercial production, venues, music tours, live events, unscripted television and independent film. CAPS’ headquarters are in Culver City, Calif.
Interviewed for this story: Todd Dyer, (310) 589-3522