In 1985, ICM acquired London-based talent agencyDuncan Heath Associates, which in 1991 merged with ICM London, with Heath became chairman of the merged company.[13]
In 1992, Josephson relinquished direct control of ICM to a triumvirate composed of Jeff Berg,Sam Cohn, and Jim Wiatt. Despite this transfer of leadership, Josephson retained a significant role within the agency, maintaining an active leadership position and continuing to manage his personal client roster.[8]
In 2005, the company raised a financing round of $75 million fromRizvi Traverse.[14]
In 2006, ICM acquired the literary agency Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann.[15]
In 2012, the agency completed a management buyout and formed a partnership with the new name,ICM Partners.[16]
In March 2018, ICM acquired theJust For Laughs comedy festival, as part of a partnership with the Canadian entertainerHowie Mandel.[17][18] A 51% majority was later sold toBell Media andGroupe CH to maintain a primarily-Canadian ownership.[19] In June that year, ICM formed a partnership withesports-focused talent agency Evolved.[20][21]
In December 2019, ICM Partners sold a one-third equity stake in the company to Crestview Partners, with the expressed goal to grow the company within the representation business with an emphasis on International growth.[22]
In March 2020, ICM partnered with Primary Talent International, a London-based music touring agency with over 700 touring clients.[23] In August, they bought a significant minority interest in Albatros, a literary agency based in Stockholm and moved partner Pete Stone to Sweden to runICM Europe.[24] In October, the agency purchased Stellar Group, the largest football/soccer agency in the world and rebranded itICM Stellar Sports.[25] (Stellar Group CEO Jonathan Barnett was listed as the No. 1 sports agent in the world byForbes magazine in 2019.)[26]
In July 2021, ICM Partners and ICM Stellar Sports purchased one of the leading NFL representation agencies, Select Sports Group, a Texas based company headed by Jeff Nalley and Erik Burkhardt.[27]
In September 2021, it was announced that ICM would be acquired byCreative Artists Agency (CAA).[28] The deal closed in June 2022 at a value of $750 million. Following the acquisition, 105 positions from ICM were set to be eliminated, with about 425 staffers and agents joining CAA.[29]
ICM Partners' television and motion picture departments represented film actors, actresses, directors and writers. The departments also featured a division dedicated to production professionals such as cinematographers, editors,second unit directors, composers, production designers, costume designers and visual effects supervisors. The television department also represented on-air and creative talent.[30][31]
ICM Partners' concert and live appearances department represented artists in music and comedy as well as lecturers.[citation needed] ICM Partners acquired New York City speakers agency Royce Carlton, Inc. in 2017.[38] From the acquisition until late 2019, the lecture division still went by the Royce Carlton name. On October 16, 2019, the division rebranded toICM Speakers and relocated to the Washington, D.C., office. ICM Speakers' division services included the management and representation of professional public speakers. A few notable clients included authorMitch Albom,[38] authorJon Meacham, TV hostKaramo Brown,[39] and activistNadia Murad.[40]
ICM Partners' global branded entertainment division's services ranged from celebrity endorsements, product placement, and music tour sponsorship[41] to brand integration, such as the creation and packaging of original branded films and television shows.[42] The agency's celebrity endorsements department serviced all ICM Partners' film and television talent for on-camera, print and voiceover commercial work as well as for paid media campaigns.[43]
