McGuireWoods represented talent agency Wasserman Music in its acquisition of Paradigm Music UK’s live music representation business. The deal expands Wasserman Music’s client roster, which includes globally represented artists such as Billie Eilish, Drake, Imagine Dragons, Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Chesney, Liam Gallagher, Pharrell and Sturgill Simpson, with the addition of artists represented outside North America, including Bon Iver, Mark Ronson, Rita Ora, Robyn and Shawn Mendes.
Wasserman Music is a music agency that represents a world-class roster of artists for live performance, touring, brand partnerships and beyond, and is a division of global sports, music and marketing agency Wasserman. The deal marked the sixth M&A transaction over the past 12 months in which McGuireWoods has represented Wasserman. Wasserman Music launched in April 2021 with the acquisition of Paradigm’s North American live music representation business.
New York partner Seth Goldsamt led McGuireWoods’ deal team, which included Chicago counsel Felix Saratovsky, Richmond partner Jon Neal and New York associate Samar Khan.
“We are proud of our association with Wasserman Music and were pleased to represent our valued client in this important acquisition,” Goldsamt said. “This transaction is another example of McGuireWoods’ significant capabilities in sports and entertainment transactions as well as cross-border M&A deals.”
McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the leaders in U.S. and global M&A deals in league tables published by Bloomberg and Refinitiv. Corporate counsel singled out McGuireWoods as a leading law firm for M&A in “The BTI M&A Outlook 2022” report, calling the firm a “powerhouse” for private company deals and straightforward transactions and a “standout” for deals attracting regulatory scrutiny.