City National Bank has acquired LA-based Exactuals, which provides software solutions designed to handle complex payments in the entertainment industry.
Exactuals’ payment system, PaymentHub, allows studios, unions, guilds, payroll companies, music publishers, record labels, distributors and marketplaces to provide direct deposit payments, tax document management and online reporting to rights-holders, performers, managers, service providers and independent contractors worldwide.
According to the company, this automated system reduces or eliminates the need for costly paper checks and reporting.
In addition to PaymentHub, Exactuals recently launched RAI – an artificial intelligence tool used by record labels and publishers to optimize ownership metadata for the calculation and payment of royalties.
In February 2017, City National participated in a $10 million round of funding for Exactuals. Today’s acquisition price was not disclosed.
Mike Hurst will remain CEO of Exactuals following the City Bank buyout. He and the firm’s other executives are being retained with multi-year contracts.
An “Exactuals has developed a groundbreaking and unique payments and reporting platform that enhances security and reliability,” said City National Bank Chairman and CEO Russell Goldsmith.
“City National has been a minority investor in Exactuals for several years, and the two companies have formed a strong partnership. Mike and his team are highly skilled, and we’re very pleased that they will be joining City National.
“This acquisition builds on City National’s history of serving the entertainment industry, and it is the latest example of our commitment to provide clients with premier service and state-of-the-art payments systems. We look forward to helping Exactuals as the firm continues to grow.”
City National anticipates additional revenue from Exactuals’ payment processing and also expects to increase deposits and enhance the services it can offer to the bank’s entertainment clients.
“We are excited to bring our leading technology together with the most trusted bank in entertainment,” Hurst said. “This acquisition builds upon a five-year investment relationship between our two companies. Since 2013, Exactuals and City National have worked together to build revolutionary tools and services for our shared customer base in the entertainment space, and this acquisition will accelerate our mission to transform and modernize the industry for the better.
“With the combined strength of City National and RBC, we expect significant new growth as companies of all sizes move to process royalties and residuals through Exactuals with confidence.”
Exactuals was founded at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2011.
The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, has a growing office in Nashville, and employs about 40 staff.
With $48.8 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 72 offices, including 19 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.
In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $64.9 billion in client investment assets.Music Business Worldwide
