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Highlights of our experience in Media - 2018

Technology, Media & Communications

15 January 2019

Media highlights 2018

2018 has been a year of considerable change for the media sector, with the opportunities – and challenges – arising from the convergence of media, technology and telecoms, consolidation to counter the competition from tech giants, changes in consumer behaviour and content delivery, the proliferation of data, an ever-changing regulatory regime heavily influenced by political and economic factors, and of course the impending Brexit.

CMS, too, experienced a time of change following its high-profile, three-way merger. Now, 18 months on, we reflect on the benefits the merger has created for the CMS Media team, including an enviable international footprint, a broader skill-set that’s hard to match and an expanded team made up of expert lawyers in their field.

  • Advising Advance on its purchase of Stage Entertainment, one of the world’s largest theatre producers and owners, operating 20 theatres and partnering with world-renowned creative talent to produce shows attended by over seven million visitors annually. A CMS media team across the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia and Luxembourg supported Advance.
  • Advising BT on its multi-year agency deal for BT to market and sell Sky’s NOW TV service to BT TV customers.
  • Advising Circle Media Group on its acquisition of the CPI group, a leading European book printing business. A CMS media team across Austria, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and the UK advised.
  • Advising Comcast Corporation on its £30bn bid for Sky Plc – the biggest takeover ever seen in Europe’s media industry. A team across multiple CMS territories including the UK, Germany, Austria and Italy advised on the specialist media, telecoms and gambling regulatory aspects of the deal. Teams in Albania and Ukraine also advised on anti-trust aspects.
  • Advising Dentsu Aegis Network on its acquisition of B2B International, a market research business with operations in the UK, China, Germany and the US and creative agency Whitespace.
  • Advising Endeavor on the UK aspects of its acquisition of NeuLion, the leading online streaming technology company and the acquisition of Clifford French, the UK headquartered sports and entertainment communications agency.
  • Advising Global Media on its acquisitions of UK out of home advertising businesses, Outdoor Plus and Primesight, and its binding offer to acquire Exterion Media which operates in the UK, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.
  • Advising IMG Media on its 50/50 joint venture with Perform Group to establish FC Diez Media set up to advise CONMEBOL on their commercial rights for football club competitions in South America from 2019-22.
  • Advising ITE on its acquisition of Ascential’s exhibitions business and associated rights issue and debt financing.
  • Advising ITN on its joint venture with The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) to form Host Broadcasting and Media Production.
  • Advising ITV on its international trade mark portfolio protecting over 500 brands in over 50 territories including handling all pre-clearance advice on new programme titles.
  • Advising LittleStar Films on all aspects of the development, financing, and distribution of the new film ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’.
  • Advising Sports Information Services on the sale of SIS Live, provider of broadcast connectivity services, to NEP Group, a worldwide outsourced technical production partner supporting premier content producers of live sports and entertainment.
  • Advising a number of broadcaster and VOD platform clients on their options from a media regulatory perspective post-Brexit, including arranging roundtable discussions with the German and Irish regulators.
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Media 2018 Highlights
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