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ICM Acquires BWCS Agency

Jul 27, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Beverly Hills talent agency International Creative Management acquired the Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann (“BWCS”) Agency Thursday in a transaction that is expected to close next month. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Chris Silbermann, managing partner of BWCS, will share a co-president title with ICM’s Ed Limato. Mr. Silbermann and BWCS partner Ted Chervin will all serve as co-heads of worldwide television.

Robert Broder, founding partner of BWCS, will become vice chairman of ICM, and BWCS partners Elliot Webb and Dan Donahue will become executive VP’s. As part of the reorganization, Nancy Josephson, formerly co-president of ICM, is leaving the agency.

The deal comes nine months after ICM completed a recapitalization to pursue plans for expansion with financial assistance from Rizvi Traverse Management and Merrill Lynch’s Asset Based Finance Group. In January ICM fended off rumors it was buying the Endeavor Agency.

BWCS’s strength lies in the series television business. Some of its clients include veteran comedy director James Burrows (“Cheers,” “Friends,” “Will & Grace,” “The Class”) and writers Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men”), and Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith (“Big Day,” “‘Til Death”).

The agency also represents feature director and writer clients, as well as line producers, directors of photography, composers, costume designers, editors and production designers.

In contrast to ICM, BWCS has never represented performers. Founded in 1978 as the Broder Kurland Webb Uffner Agency, Mr. Chervin and Mr. Silbermann were named partners in 1998, with Dan Donahue getting partner stripes in 2005. Renamed BWCS in 2002, the agency is based in Beverly Hills, California.

“While BWCS has enjoyed a tradition of success, the benefits of becoming part of a larger organization with an established talent department as well as renowned film, music and publishing divisions, will mean greater access and a wider range of opportunities for our clients and those we expect to attract as a result of this transaction,” Mr. Broder said in a statement.