Investment Banker Invasion: How Boutique Firms Dominated Hollywood’s Biggest Deals in 2025

A new class of specialized investment firms has become the dominant force behind the largest deals in entertainment, media, and sports. From the landmark $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts to the complex $8.4 billion union of Skydance and Paramount, names like RedBird Capital Partners, The Raine Group, LionTree Advisors, and Silver Lake are consistently at the table. These entities, alongside pure advisory firms like Moelis & Company, provide the crucial financing and strategic architecture for transactions reshaping entire industries. For those outside high finance, their recurring presence prompts a clear question: why has this specific group become so powerful in Hollywood's boardrooms?

The shift represents a fundamental change from an era when century-old Wall Street titans controlled corporate mergers and acquisitions. The 2008 financial crisis was a pivotal catalyst, devastating firms like Lehman Brothers and forcing survivors such as Goldman Sachs—where RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale was a longtime executive—to become bank holding companies, subjecting them to stricter federal oversight. Post-crisis regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Act and the Volcker Rule, further constrained the aggressive, speculative strategies these giants once employed. This regulatory environment created an opening for more agile, privately-funded firms, often led by ambitious veterans from the traditional banks, to pursue niche opportunities. Many found a perfect fit in the relationship-driven worlds of media and entertainment. As Carlos Jimenez, a managing director at advisory firm Moelis & Company, notes, "No one ever gets bored talking about media, sports and entertainment. The sector's inherent glamour and constant evolution make it a perennial focus for investors seeking both financial returns and cultural impact."

The protracted saga of Skydance Media's merger with Paramount Global in 2025 exemplifies this new dynamic. While publicly volatile, RedBird's Gerry Cardinale, who founded his firm in 2014 after a 20-year career at Goldman Sachs, describes the process as persistent, tenacious work. "To a certain extent, it was business as usual," Cardinale states, though he acknowledges the deal's complexity required near-constant renegotiation. The transaction granted RedBird a 22.5% voting stake and Cardinale a board seat in the new Paramount Skydance entity, positioning him behind Skydance founder David Ellison and his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison. For Cardinale, the clincher was partnering with a "true owner-operator" like David Ellison. This isn't Paramount's first encounter with a New York financier; in 1966, industrial conglomerate Gulf+Western, led by Charles Bluhdorn, acquired the studio, ushering in a creative renaissance that produced "The Godfather."

RedBird's strategy extends far beyond a single deal, focusing on what Cardinale calls "intellectual property monetization." The firm aims to acquire, reinvigorate, and reposition content-based businesses for a direct-to-consumer era. Its portfolio includes a stake in LeBron James's SpringHill Company, a minimum $100 million commitment to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity, and major sports investments like an 11% stake in Fenway Sports Group and the full acquisition of Italy's legendary soccer club, AC Milan. This track record builds the deep sector relationships experts say are critical. Angelo Rufino, head of special situations at Bain Capital, explains, "When you're dealing with artists and film and music, it is as relationship-driven as I've ever seen. What you can add beyond capital is often the deciding factor."

For advisory firms, the compensation model involves monthly retainers and a "success fee"—typically 1.5% to 10% of the final deal value. On a colossal transaction like the potential sale of Warner Bros. Discovery, which has drawn competing offers from Netflix and Paramount reportedly valuing it at up to $108.4 billion, even a small percentage fee translates to a monumental payday. Advisors like Moelis provide comprehensive support. "We put our arm around clients during their most important transactions," Jimenez says, citing M&A, capital raising, and restructuring. He points to Moelis's work with AMC Theatres, advising on a $600 million investment from Silver Lake and a 2020 restructuring, as key to the chain's pandemic survival.

The network of advisors on major deals can appear densely interconnected. For the Skydance-Paramount merger, Moelis advised Skydance, while LionTree and Rothschild & Co. counseled Paramount. Yet, Jimenez clarifies that the field is often narrower than it seems. "Depending on the transaction, sometimes even on some of the big ones, there's only one or two banks on each side," he explains, noting the intense, focused workload these partnerships entail. As these specialized firms continue to consolidate their influence, their ability to navigate both high finance and creative relationships ensures they will remain central players in the industry's biggest deals for the foreseeable future.