ICM makes second 2017 acquisition with Royce Carlton buy

ICM Partners has bought a majority stake in Royce Carlton, a formerly independent New York booking/management agency for public speakers.

The deal is the second acquisition for LA-based ICM – whose music roster includes Celine Dion, the Beach Boys, Barry Gibb, Anderson Paak, Dave Stewart, the Skins, Little Simz and Mike Will Made It – in six months, and follows the acquisition of broadcast news agency Headline Media Management in March.

The acquisition of Royce Carlton, which will continue to trade under its own name, bolsters ICM’s speakers business substantially, adding some 80 speakers and lecturers to its roster. The combined ICM Partners lectures group will operate as Royce Carlton from Manhattan and as ICM in Los Angeles, and be led by ICM’s head of digital ventures and lectures, Jonathan Perelman, along with Royce Carlton CEO Carlton Sedgeley and Royce Carlton’s executive VP, Lucy Lepage Sedgeley, who founded the agency together in 1968.

“This is a perfectly timed, strategic move for us”

“The Royce Carlton agency is the definition of sophistication and integrity in the speakers business today, with a combination of strong core values, newsworthy clients and excellent agents,” says ICM managing director Chris Silbermann.

“We could not be more excited to build upon our longstanding, close relationship as we welcome them fully into the ICM Partners family.”

In a joint statement, Carlton Sedgeley and Lucy Lepage Sedgeley add: “This is a perfectly timed, strategic move for us that assures our agents and staff, as well as our clients, a long-term transition plan, while giving us access to more resources and clients to grow the agency while continuing to provide the best possible service to the people we represent.”

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