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A day after CAA clinched a deal to acquire ICM Partners, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel told an industry crowd on Tuesday that he considered an ICM acquisition more than a decade ago, before Endeavor pulled off its acquisition of William Morris Agency.

Emanuel weighed in on the big news in Hollywood during his long-scheduled Q&a at the Recode conference in Beverly Hills. He dismissed the idea of UTA as an acquisition target for Endeavor and he took a swipe at CAA for engaging in a Scarlett Johansson’s high-profile lawsuit against Disney.

“I appreciate them validating my strategy in ’08,” Emanuel said of CAA’s acquisition during the wide-ranging interview with Recode executive editor Kara Swisher. “They’re just coming at it 13 years late.”

When Swisher pressed him on the prospect that Endeavor would try to buy UTA, Emanuel flatly replied, “We don’t need it.”

Emanuel weighed in on the state of WME,...

Glen Basner's FilmNation -- celebrating its fifth anniversary this year -- has secured $50 million in additional capital from longtime partners Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Union Bank. The equity-backed credit facility will allow FilmNation to finance and produce an increasing number of movies. Last year, the production, financing and international sales company saw its slate of films, including Looper, take in more than $420 million at the worldwide box office. The $50 million in new capital was facilitated by the longstanding relationship between FilmNation and Bank of America’s Brian Stearns, Daniel Timmons and Sharad Bhatt, as well as Union

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch has promoted Brian Stearns and Daniel Timmons to the newly created roles as co-heads of the Entertainment Industries coverage unit, it was announced on Tuesday. The duo is responsible for portfolio strategy, client coverage, credit execution and risk management in addition to advising clients on capital structure alternatives. The announcement comes as the entertainment sector for Bank of America Merrill Lynch is experiencing strong growth. The company recently led transactions totaling more than $3 billion for such clients as CAA, Open Road Films, Dune Entertainment, Legendary Pictures,...

Brian Stearns and Daniel Timmons are heading to Toronto this week for the annual film festival with new titles as senior vps of Bank of America and as co-heads of the bank’s expanding entertainment industry group – the first to hold that leadership position at the big bank in more than a decade. In Toronto, they will meet with clients like Alliance and Entertainment One, as well as sales agents such as Sierra Pictures and Im Global. They will also consult with European clients like Luxembourg based media fund Anton Capital Entertainment and the U.K.’s Keyone Productions

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