Media & Telecommunications

Media/Content Transactions

• Ascribe Capital as an investor in Fuse Media in connection with the acquisition of a majority, controlling interest in Fuse by a management group headed by Fuse’s CEO
• Advance in multiple transactions including in the three-way combination among its subsidiary Bright House Networks, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable to create a combined company with an equity value in excess of $80 billion
• AMC Networks in its initial control investment in RLJ Entertainment and its going private acquisition of the rest of RLJ Entertainment, and its partnership with fuboTV under which AMC Networks’ channels will be available to fuboTV subscribers across multiple platforms
• AT&T in a number of significant transactions including:

• the sale of its participation in Sky Mexico to Grupo Televisa, by which Grupo Televisa would become owner of 100% of Sky’s capital stock
• as an investor in Hello Sunshine, a media company founded by Reese Witherspoon, in Hello Sunshine’s transaction involving a majority investment from a newly formed company backed by Blackstone
• its sale of its business unit Vrio to Grupo Werthein
• the spin-off of WarnerMedia into Discovery and the $30 billion Rule 144A/Reg S offering of senior unsecured notes by Magallanes, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, in connection with the combination
• as the largest shareholder in Central European Media Enterprises, in connection with PPF Group’s $2.1 billion acquisition of AT&T’s entire share capital of CME
• the $1.43 billion sale of its minority stake in Hulu back to the streaming video joint venture
• its agreement with TPG Capital that established a new company named DIRECTV
• its $108.7 billion acquisition of Time Warner and in the $40 billion bridge loan to finance the acquisition
• its $67 billion acquisition of DirecTV
• AT&T and DirecTV in agreements with Google to create an Android-based set-top box for live streaming AT&T TV and deploy Google Search/Assistant on AT&T mobile devices
• Bright House Networks in the $80 billion three-way combination with Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable
• Cablevision in its $17.7 billion acquisition by Altice
• DraftKings in its acquisition of Vegas Sports Information Network
• FilmYard Holdings, parent company of MIRAMAX, in connection with beIN MEDIA GROUP’s acquisition of 100% of MIRAMAX
• Madison Square Garden Sports (formerly The Madison Square Garden Company), in the spin-off of its entertainment businesses and $226 million sale of Fuse Networks to SiTV Media, and MSG Networks Inc. in the spin-off of its sports and entertainment business into The Madison Square Garden Company
• Pershing Square, L.P. and Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, the largest SPAC of all time, in its initial $4 billion merger agreement with Universal Music Group (“UMG”) and subsequent assignment of PSTH’s rights and obligations to acquire 10% of UMG to investment funds affiliated with William Ackman
• Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) and MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), in numerous transactional and governance matters, including in connection with MLBAM’s formation of BAMTech, MLB’s digital streaming technology business, the subsequent sale of a majority ownership interest in BAMTech, to The Walt Disney Company for $1.58 billion, and in the formation of BAMTech Europe and related partnership with Discovery Communications and several early-stage technology acquisitions
• MUSIC as the lead investor in Soundtrack Your Brand’s $15 million pre-growth round and as a co-investor in connection with Francisco Partners’ investment in Kobalt
• RedBird Capital Partners in connection with Skydance Investor Group’s investment of more than $8 billion as part of Skydance Media and Paramount Global’s agreement to form “New Paramount”
• TelevisaUnivision in $1.94 billion aggregate total of four Rule 144A/Reg S offerings of senior secured notes (2023-2024)
• Wasserman Media Group in connection with various matters, including its acquisitions of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, CSM Sport and Entertainment Holdings, Paradigm Talent Agency’s North American live music representation business and a strategic investment from Providence Equity Partners

Telecommunications Transactions

• Alcatel-Lucent in its $16.6 billion acquisition by Nokia
• AST SpaceMobile in a number of significant transactions including:
• in its strategic partnership with Verizon
• in multiple sales of common stock and its strategic investment to support the commercial rollout of the first of its kind space-based cellular broadband network
• its strategic investment from AT&T, Google and Vodafone
• AT&T in a number of significant transactions including:
• its $1.9 billion acquisition of Nextel Mexico
• its $2.5 billion acquisition of Iusacell
• in over $20 billion of credit facilities in the past two years and in ongoing corporate and finance matters
• AT&T’s underwriters in $50.16 billion aggregate total of twelve SEC-registered offerings of notes (2020-2024)
• Bell Canada in $5.4 billion aggregate total of five SEC-registered offerings of notes (2021-2024)
• China Mobile in a number of significant transactions including in its:
• $18.4 billion agreement with CMC, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Reform under which they sold their telecommunications towers and related assets to China Tower
• $8.2 billion IPO and listing on the Main Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange
• Deutsche Telekom as selling shareholder in the $2.65 billion Rule 144A/Reg S private placements of ordinary shares, sold by KfW by way of accelerated bookbuild
• DISH Network in a number of significant transactions including:
• its merger with EchoStar
• its agreement with T-Mobile, Sprint and the U.S. Department of Justice under which DISH acquired Sprint’s prepaid wireless business and entered the U.S. wireless market as the fourth nationwide facilities-based provider
• its series of transactions over the past decade to secure a leading position in wireless spectrum assets
• in $13.25 billion aggregate total of six Rule 144A offerings of notes (2020–2024)
• its acquisition from EchoStar of certain hardware, software and over-the-top assets in exchange for DISH’s interests in Hughes Retail Group
• e& in a number of significant transactions including its:
• expansion into Central and Eastern Europe through an investment in a majority stake in PPF Telecom
• acquisition of a 15% stake in Vodafone Group and the entry into a relationship agreement with Vodafone providing for board representation as the largest shareholder
• Intel in its sale to Apple Inc. of its 5G modem business and associated cellular patents
• L3Harris in its acquisition of Viasat’s tactical data links business for $1.96 billion
• Ruckus Wireless in its $1.5 billion acquisition by Brocade
• Silver Lake Partners in its $16.5 billion purchase of Intelsat
• Softbank Group in a number of significant transactions including:
• as selling shareholder in Arm Holdings’ $5.23 billion SEC-registered IPO and Nasdaq Global Select Market listing
• in a series of capital market transactions which involved monetizing a majority of its holdings in T-Mobile for approximately $20 billion, in transactions to further monetize its stake in T-Mobile and its share swap with Deutsche Telekom
• in its approximately $23.55 billion Rule 144A/Reg S IPO and listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
• in connection with a $8.5 billion Margin Loan
• Swisscom AG in its €8.1 billion acquisition financing, consisting of a €5.1 billion bridge facility and €3 billion term loan facility, in order to acquire Vodafone Italy and its amendment and restatement of its CHF 1.7 billion existing revolving credit facility agreement
• Telia in a number of significant transactions including:
• its $530 million sale of its holding in Turkcell Holding to Turkey Wealth Fund
• in connection with its wholly owned subsidiary, Fintur Holdings’ sale of Moldcell to CG Cell Technologies DAC, wholly-owned by CG Corp Global
• its acquisition of Turkcell’s share in Fintur Holdings to become sole shareholder of the company
• Tillman Global Holdings in a number of strategic partnerships and investments
• Wren House Infrastructure Management in its $500 million acquisition of a minority stake in Phoenix Tower International from funds affiliated with Blackstone, and its acquisition of i3 Broadband from Seaport Capital

Litigation/Arbitration/Antitrust

• AMC Networks and the board of RLJ Entertainment (RLJE), in obtaining the dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging breach of fiduciary duty by RLJE’s board of directors in connection with AMC’s purchase of RLJE. The dismissal was upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court in a significant decision narrowing the scope of director liability in Nevada.
• AT&T in:
• appraisal proceedings brought in connection with its acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner.
• shareholder derivative litigation related to alleged environmental and public health risks posed by lead-sheathed telecommunications cables.
• confidential shareholder pre-suit demands related to alleged data breaches.
• securities class action litigation concerning alleged misstatements in connection with AT&T’s merger with Time Warner.
• confidential arbitration proceedings relating to AT&T’s sale of VRIO Corp., a subsidiary that owned AT&T’s interests in the digital entertainment business in Latin America.
• BlackBerry Limited in:
• obtaining a $940 million award in an arbitration against Qualcomm. The award represents royalty payments made to Qualcomm in excess of those required under Qualcomm’s royalty cap program.
• litigation against Nokia of America Corp., including a patent infringement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in which BlackBerry accused Nokia of infringing eleven BlackBerry patents, an administrative procedure before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office defending the validity of BlackBerry’s patents, and an arbitration in Sweden regarding licensing.
• DISH Network in:
• responding to DOJ inquiries related to its sale to Liberty Latin America of certain DISH spectrum assets in Puerto Rico and the USVI and approximately 120,000 prepaid mobile subscribers in those areas for approximately $256 million.
• a class action lawsuit filed in 2019 by a purported EchoStar stockholder in Nevada State Court alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and related claims in connection with DISH’s purchase of EchoStar’s satellite services business.
• DraftKings on:
• all competition matters in relation to its business combination with SBTech (Global) Limited, and Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp.
• antitrust and litigation matters in connection to its definitive agreement to acquire Simplebet Inc.
• Electronics and Telecommunications Institute and SK Telecom Co. in a lawsuit related to HEVC standard essential patent licensing rights.
• Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC (e&) on antitrust matters as it entered into a binding agreement with PPF Group N.V. to acquire a controlling stake in PPF Telecom Group’s assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia, which comprise of the Yettel Bulgaria, Yettel Hungary, Yettel Serbia and O2 Slovakia operations, and the CETIN and O2 Networks infrastructure businesses in these countries.
• Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. n/k/a Sphere Entertainment Co. (“MSGE”) in:
• two consolidated stockholder suits filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery following the merger of MSGE and Madison Square Garden Networks (“MSG Networks”).
• litigation and antitrust matters as it completed a spin-off of its entertainment business segment into a separate publicly traded company.
• National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in filing an Amicus brief in support of the Radio Music Licensing Committee in its litigation with Global Music Rights, LLC.
• National Basketball Association (NBA) in the successful settlement of a breach of contract lawsuit brought in New York state court by Warner Bros. Discovery and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. relating to their attempt to exercise a contractual right to match competing offers for national television distribution of NBA games.
• RedBird Capital Partners (RedBird) on antitrust and litigation matters in connection with Skydance Media, LLC (Skydance) and Paramount Global’s (Paramount) definitive agreement to form “New Paramount” by way of a two-step transaction that includes the acquisition of National Amusements—which holds the controlling share stake in Paramount—and subsequently a merger of Skydance and Paramount.
• SoftBank Group Corp. and certain of SoftBank’s current and former executives in a shareholder direct and derivative action in Delaware Chancery Court stemming from the 2020 merger between T-Mobile US, Inc. and SoftBank-controlled Sprint Corporation, and a subsequent series of transactions through which SoftBank monetized a portion of the T-Mobile shares it acquired through the merger.
• Spotify and Meta in connection with the Epic Games v. Apple antitrust case in the Northern District of California, in which Epic Games argues that Apple is not complying with an order barring it from using anti-steering rules in the App Store.
• Telia Company AB in an arbitration before a tribunal acting under the arbitration rules of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) involving its December 2018 sale to Kazakhtelecom of its indirect interests in Kcell, a Kazak cell phone joint venture.
• TeliaSonera and Sonera Holding B.V. in a long-running dispute with Turkish companies arising from a cell phone joint venture.
• ZiffDavis in devising and overseeing strategy for the defense of a putative securities class action filed in July 2020 in the Central District of California and related derivative actions filed in both federal court in the District of Delaware and Delaware Court of Chancery.