(06/12) Ryan Seacrest has bought a controlling stake in the Civic Entertainment Group, a 12-year-old marketing agency that has helped to create events like the CNN Grill and NBC’s Education Nation.

The acquisition, to be announced on Wednesday, reflects Mr. Seacrest’s plan to build a diversified media company on the back of his many day jobs, which include hosting Fox’s “American Idol” and radio shows for Clear Channel. In a telephone interview, he said of the acquisition, “Part of my overall goal in the business is to connect content, brands and consumers. I think that this is a great opportunity to do that.”

Mr. Seacrest already has his own marketing deals. One with Ford Motor resulted in a campaign this year called “Random Acts of Fusion.” Mr. Seacrest is the M.C. for the campaign, appearing in online videos, commercials and Twitter messages.

Mr. Seacrest said he saw more such partnerships on the horizon. Showing up on camera, though, is not the main point of the deal with Civic Entertainment. He said the company’s co-founders, Stuart Ruderfer and David Cohn, would continue to run the company independently in New York.

“They’ll do what they do best,” he said, while he will tap into his connections across industries.

He could, theoretically, line up some of the celebrities he interviews on the radio, or some of the reality stars whose shows he produces for the E! channel, for an event put together by Civic.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. It was conducted through Mr. Seacrest’s new personal investment arm, the Seacrest Global Group, not through an investment fund set up this year by the majority investors in Clear Channel, THL and Bain Capital. That fund, with up to $300 million in commitments, is seeking bigger investments than the one Mr. Seacrest made in Civic.

Mr. Seacrest called the deal the first “of what I hope to be many,” citing an interest in creating a very diversified portfolio.

Mr. Ruderfer said he and Mr. Cohn had been talking with Mr. Seacrest for a few months. “Ryan has a very unique vision for building a new media and entertainment model, and we’re extremely excited to partner up with him on doing that,” he said.

Mr. Ruderfer added, “I think a lot of people have aspired to bring Hollywood together with excellent marketing services. I think this is genuinely fulfilling that promise, and it’s genuinely new in that way,”

Civic, which has 45 employees, has been behind prominent campaigns for clients like CNN, NBC, HBO, A&E, and the National Football League. It specializes in so-called experiential marketing, which is based on people going to places or events.

For example, for HBO’s “The Pacific,” the company helped organize a wreath-laying ceremony for war veterans at the World War II Memorial in Washington. For Southwest Airlines, it helped set up a bar and lounge called the Southwest Porch in Bryant Park in New York City. For the History channel’s “Swamp People,” it planted alligators and cypress trees inside the city’s Chelsea Market. It produced a series of restaurant spaces for CNN, the CNN Grill, at the Republican and Democratic conventions and the SXSW technology conference.

Some of its work has involved creating content, a growing area for big brands like the N.F.L., which commissioned Civic to come up with a plan for its Facebook and Twitter pages. For NBC News, Civic helped devise Education Nation, a series of summit meetings that has attracted well-known speakers and has become an annual event.

Something like Education Nation “enhances the brand of NBC News,” Mr. Ruderfer said.

Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said Mr. Ruderfer and Mr. Cohn had brought “great contacts and great energy” to Education Nation.

Mr. Capus is also a fan of Mr. Seacrest, whose wide-ranging pact with NBC, announced in April, made him a special correspondent on the “Today” show. Mr. Capus said, “I think it’s going to be a terrific pairing.”

By Brian Stelter

Source: The New York Times