UTA acquires James & Co. to expand Executive Search activities

UTA is expanding its presence in executive search and consulting through the acquisition of James & Co., which operates in the sports, media, entertainment, digital and consumer sectors. The founders of James & Co. Michele James and Roysi Erbes will continue to lead the company as a new division within UTA.

UTA, led by CEO Jeremy Zimmer, is already active in executive search and consulting through Medialink, which it acquired for $125 million in late 2021. The terms of the deal for James & Co. were not disclosed, although Medialink’s executive search team will become part of the new division at UTA.

Executive search is a logical extension for a company like UTA, which already regularly talks to many of the big players in entertainment and sports, and has a robust consultancy in Medialink.

UTA has been engaged in acquisitions in recent years, leaning its role as a talent agency and service-oriented company in the worlds of entertainment, media, sports and marketing. In addition to Medialink, the company acquired British literary and talent agency Curtis Brown Group last year; and the Fletcher & Company literary agency earlier this year. UTA also secured a private equity investment from EQT last year, which it says it would use for strategic acquisitions.

“Over the past two decades, James & Co. has earned tremendous trust and respect from high-level clients in the worlds of sports, entertainment and more,” said Andrew Thau, COO of UTA and co-head of UTA Sports, in a statement. rack. “Michele and Roysi fit perfectly into UTA’s collaborative and entrepreneurial culture and their expertise is second to none. It is exciting to welcome them and their team to UTA as we help even more clients find and strengthen their most important assets – their people.”

“James & Co. has been operating at the intersection of media, entertainment, sports, consumer and digital media for more than two decades,” added James and Erbes. “UTA’s shared expertise in these industries, as well as our aligned cultures, provides a unique opportunity to create a force multiplier effect. We have worked with UTA many times over the years and look forward to joining the UTA family to continue to be a positive catalyst for business and career building.”