Talent agency CAA acquires rival ICM, continuing the Hollywood consolidation wave

For a long time, WME and CAA have been the number one and number two agencies in Hollywood. Recently, CAA acquired ICM, the number four agency in terms of size, which now makes CAA bigger than WME and moves it to the number one slot. The merger is part of a wave of consolidation in Hollywood, as companies have had to get bigger to keep up with the tech companies who have taken over the industry.

In recent years, Endeavor, the parent company of talent agency WME, has diversified to include live events and organizations, including UFC. By taking over ICM, CAA is working to position itself as the agency that cares about talent, and will likely try to poach some of WME’s clients.

CAA has also shown it is willing to publicly fight for clients, as in the case of CAA client Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney.

With the merger, CAA also gained some big TV names who were previously at ICM, including Shonda Rhimes and Vince Gilligan. ICM also had a strong books division that will now go to CAA.

With the two companies consolidating, there will likely be layoffs at ICM, possibly with some of the agents leaving to become managers.