Steinberg agency merges with Canadian firm

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- Sports and entertainment super agent Leigh Steinberg

won’t be moving his business to the Great White North, eh?

Although a company based in Winnipeg, Canada acquired his sports

management agency on Wednesday, Steinberg said he and his employees will

remain at their Newport Beach location.

“I’m thinking about taking some language-immersion courses in Canadian.

I’ll be practicing my ‘uts’ and ‘ehs,”’ joked the 50-year-old Steinberg,

who spoke via cell phone on his way to Atlanta, where he will unveil a

new ethnic diversity program Friday in conjunction with the

Anti-Defamation League.

The deal, rumored to be worth $120 million, is expected to be completed

by Sunday. Steinberg said he and partners Jeffrey Moorad and David Dunn

have been searching for a suitable partner for more than a year.

Steinberg’s new partner is Assante Corp., a financial planning company

that has diversified rapidly over the past several years. The company has

completed 17 acquisitions, most recently the purchase of Santa

Monica-based NKS Management, which provides financial advice to Hollywood

stars such as David Letterman and Tom Cruise.

Following the trend of mega-mergers between giants in their trade, the

move will give Assante more resources in attracting clients.

In Steinberg’s business, which handles lucrative deals for about 150

athletes, agents are no longer dealing solely with multimillion-dollar

contracts. They also must worry about having their client’s face appear

in shoe commercials, video games and on action figures to fuel an

increasing consumer market.

Yet Steinberg remains steadfast to his philosophy in having his clients

give back to their communities. He believes the acquisition will help to

meet that goal.

“It gives us more scope and support to do interesting projects,” he said.

“We will have a strong autonomy and be able to provide more service.”

Assante hopes to lure clients away from rival SFX Entertainment, Inc.,

whose primary workhorse is David Falk, who represents basketball legend

Michael Jordan.

The Newport Beach agency will retain its name, although Moorad and

Steinberg will juggle two jobs. Under the terms of the deal, Steinberg

will become chief executive officer of Assante Sports Management Group

and Moorad will be the division’s managing director.

Known for its dress-down attire and independent thinking, the agency has

risen to the top of its profession by attracting a slew of sports stars,

such as NFL quarterbacks Steve Young and Troy Aikman, and baseball

players Matt Williams and Ivan Rodriguez. Moorad doesn’t think the

acquisition will make employees cave in to the corporate mentality.

“How I see it is this is a merger of expertise,” said Moorad, who

attended Game Four of the World Series on Wednesday night. One of

Moorad’s clients is New York Yankees left fielder Ricky Ledee. “Under our

new structure, I think that corporate concept will be less of an issue.

We will be offering an enhanced service to a wider number of clients.”

The agreement calls for issuing $35 million in convertible stock to the

agency with an additional bonus of $40 million if Steinberg Moorad & Dunn

meet certain financial targets over the next five years.

Assante, which means “thank you” in Swahili, was created in 1995 through

the merger of a Toronto financial planning firm and another money

manager. All of the company’s subsidiaries, such as Steinberg’s agency,

retain their independent identities but are part of the Assante alliance.

FYI

Check out the interactive press release on the merger at Assante’s Web

site: o7 www.assante.caf7