Michael Fricklas, GC at Viacom. Photo: Annie Tritt

Michael Fricklas has been named chief legal officer at Advance Publications Inc., roughly one year after departing from media conglomerate Viacom Inc. where he began 25 years ago with a mission similar to the one he will have at Advance—help execute a string of major M&A deals.

Fricklas will lead legal and governmental affairs for Advance, a New York-based company that “operates and invests in a broad range of media” including titles like Conde Nast and American City Business Journals.

In a phone call Monday, Fricklas, who started at Advance this week, said he chose to join the company because “it's an interesting moment” in Advance's evolution. The Newhouse family, which founded and owns Advance, has decided to deploy a lot of capital into the acquiring of various operating business, Fricklas explained.

He shared that he has known the Newhouse family for a number of years, including Steve Newhouse, co-president of Advance.

“Mike's long experience in media, technology, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance are a great fit for Advance as we manage our businesses through a time of disruption and embark on a multibillion-dollar capital redeployment effort,” Newhouse said in a press release Monday. “Throughout Mike's career he has successfully helped large organizations navigate the business, legal and governance issues that come with change.”

Before going in-house in 1990 with mining company Minorco (USA) Inc. for a few years leading up to his hire at Viacom in 1993, Fricklas was an associate with Shearman & Sterling. There, his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions. It's also where he was introduced to Viacom, which counted Shearman as a longtime client.

Fricklas acknowledged Monday that he had been exploring other opportunities over the past year since leaving Viacom, parent company to Nickelodeon, VH1, MTV, BET and Comedy Central.

In his LinkedIn profile, he noted he was identified as a candidate for the chief operating officer role at Viacom in its succession plan. There, he also noted, he was “exploring COO, CEO and company board opportunities that put a premium on judgment, innovation and sound leadership, trademarks of my legal/business career.”

In January, Fricklas was named a senior fellow with the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School. He acted as a legislative fellow for New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer, and has become involved with nonpartisan nonprofit No Labels. Late last month, Fricklas penned an opinion piece for The Hill, arguing that in U.S. government “the time for radical centrism has come.”

Fricklas' recent focus on governmental affairs will be useful in his new role at Advance. Fricklas said that at Viacom he worked closely with the legislative affairs team but they did not report to the GC.