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Entertainment, Media and Sports

For decades, Simpson Thacher has represented clients in many of the most important transactions in entertainment, media and sports. With a keen understanding of the technological changes and evolving business models that are transforming these industries, our attorneys offer a one-stop shop to assist and guide investors and companies involved in entertainment, media and sports transactions and disputes.

Simpson Thacher brings to clients involved in the entertainment, media and sports sectors deep industry knowledge and legal acumen across the Firm’s market-leading M&A, debt and equity finance, investment fund, intellectual property, regulatory and litigation practices.

Our lawyers regularly advise industry giants, as well as emerging players across these sectors in all aspects of their businesses, offering a nuanced understanding of the environments in which they operate and the trends shaping these industries.

$775+B
Aggregate value of entertainment, media and sports deals since 2014
(LSEG)
430+
Corporate representations in entertainment, media and sports since 2014
(LSEG)

Our work spans a wide range of industries and includes broadcast and cable media, celebrity-backed consumer products, motion pictures, publishing, print and digital media, music and recording, theaters, clubs and other location-based entertainment, theme parks, casinos, video games and interactive entertainment.

In addition, as the world of sports continues to involve, Simpson Thacher lawyers have been at the forefront of major developments, including most recently the increased receptivity of sports leagues towards private equity and other institutional investment.  Leveraging deep insights across the sector, we assist sports teams, leagues, private equity sponsors and other investors in structuring funds, navigating transactions and securing strategic financing, ensuring clients receive expert guidance at every stage. 

Our experience includes representing:

Traditional Entertainment
  • Paramount in its $28.5 billion merger with SkyDance
  • Goldman Sachs in the committed debt financing for Liberty Media’s agreement to acquire Dorna Sports, the exclusive commercial rights holder to the MotoGP World Championship
  • Silver Lake Partners in its $13 billion take-private acquisition of Endeavor Group Holdings
  • Underwriters in the $2 billion offering of senior notes by NBCUniversal Media
  • Bruin Capital in its investment in Box To Box Films

Digital Media
  • Board of Directors of Twitter in the company’s $44 billion acquisition by Elon Musk
  • Vice Media in its sale of Refinery29 to Sundial Media Group and in forming a digital media joint venture with Savage Ventures
  • Flutter Entertainment in its additional listing of ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FLUT”
  • KKR in its acquisition of Audiobooks.com
  • Bumble in its $2.5 billion IPO
  • Focus Media in a going-private transaction led by Carlyle valued at approximately $3.7 billion
  • Blackstone in its acquisition of a majority stake in MagicLab
  • ZelnickMedia in its acquisition of Alloy and its sale of Alloy Entertainment to affiliates of Warner Bros.

Sports
  • Sixth Street, as co-counsel, in its joining the San Antonio Spurs investor group as a Strategic Partner, along with Michael Dell
  • WME Entertainment and Silver Lake in the acquisition, together with KKR, of Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Nets Sports and Entertainment and Forest City Ratner Companies in their strategic partnership with Mikhail Prokhorov for the sale of control of the Brooklyn Nets and development of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, New York, as well as the group led by Forest City Ratner Companies in its initial acquisition of the Nets in 2004
  • OneTeam Partners, a joint venture between the NFL Players Association, MLB Players Association and RedBird, in its recapitalization by HPS, Atlantic Park and Morgan Stanley

Video Games
  • Microsoft in the successful completion of its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard following an extended and well-publicized global regulatory review
  • EA in its acquisition of Glu Mobile
  • Platinum Equity in its acquisition of Game Taco and Game Taco in its acquisition of WorldWinner from GSN Games, a Game Show Network division wholly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment
  • Silver Lake in its role as the lead investor in a $150 million Series C financing round in Genies

Theme Parks and Location-Based Entertainment
  • Silver Lake Partners in its acquisition of a 6.3% stake in Madison Square Garden
  • KKR in its acquisition of shares of Dave & Buster’s
  • Universal Studios Japan in its acquisition of theme park rights to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter from Warner Bros.
  • CBS Corporation in the $1.24 billion sale of its theme park division, Paramount Parks, to Cedar Fair
  • Centerbridge Partners in its acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, North America’s largest family of indoor waterpark resorts
  • Blackstone in the sale of part of its stake in Merlin Entertainments Group to CVC Capital Partners

Publishing and Music
  • KKR in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Simon & Shuster and RBmedia
  • New Mountain Capital in the acquisition of BMI
  • SiriusXM in its $3.5 billion acquisition of Pandora and its agreement with Liberty Media to combine SiriusXM with Liberty Media’s Liberty SiriusXM tracking stock group, creating a new public company
  • Sony Music Entertainment in its acquisition of a majority stake in Alamo Records
  • TCV, as part of a consortium comprised of Denis Ladegaillerie, EQT and TCV, in the acquisition of Believe

Disputes
  • Our team has handled several high-profile litigations involving Paramount Global, Bumble, Twitter, SiriusXM and SeaWorld, among others.

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