To strengthen its executive search business, the Creative Artists Agency has acquired a boutique firm that specializes in helping clients recruit candidates for leadership roles in human resources and the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. On Tuesday, the agency announced that it has bought Hanold Associates, a Chicago-based firm led by co-founders Neela Seenandan and Jason Hanold, and will integrate its 20 employees into its executive search division. CAA launched this unit, co-founded by Joe Becher and Asher Simons, in 2017 to develop ancillary revenue on top of its large market share in talent representation.
“The addition of Hanold Associates and its unique expertise will amplify our efforts in this important service area, and we are excited to see what these two teams can accomplish together,” said Paul Danforth, CEO and president of CAA Sports. This transaction marks the first acquisition for CAA’s executive search division since it was established.
Founded in 2010, Hanold Associates counts the NFL, MLB, The New York Times, Google, Paramount Global and A+E Networks among its major clients, and recruits board candidates. Its partners are also based in Boston, New York, Salt Lake City, Detroit and Phoenix.
“Recruiting effective human resources leadership is critical to the growth and success of any organization, and Neela, Jason and the team at Hanold Associates are unmatched in this field,” said Becher. “Hanold’s culture and approach to customer service are complementary to ours, and we are excited to join forces to bring these world-class resources to our customers globally.”
The executive search industry has attracted growing interest among major Hollywood agencies. Last year, United Talent Agency acquired New York-based James and Co. to build a new UTA division dedicated to the industry.
“This partnership allows us to serve our existing and new clients more broadly by bringing the full reach, connectivity and relationships of CAA into our client service offerings,” added Hanold, who will serve as CAA Executive President Search.
Seenandan, whose agency title will be president of CAA Leadership Advisory, added: “Our team will bring advisory excellence and deep technical knowledge to an already strong CAA team. By working closely with Joe and Asher, we will continue to build on their world-class reputation across CAA’s client portfolio.”
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