Latham Watkins

With the cooling of a once fast-paced Chinese acquisition spree, Calabrese finds “a pivot to European and other investors who have stepped into the breach” for what he sees as “continued consolidation and strategic investment in the media industries.” He adds, “That’s not to say we don’t continue to see a number of deals coming out of China, but not at the same pace as in 2016.” In evidence of the European activity, Latham represented Netflix in its acquisition of Scottish comic book company Millarworld in August and advised completion bond firm Film Finances for its June initial public offering in London. In the team’s law practice, Calabrese handles the full media/entertainment/sports spectrum as chief of the group. Brearton specializes in strategic alliances, project financing and mergers and acquisitions. Haymer advises on entertainment and sports industries for M&A, securities and partnerships. London-based Savill covers European media. Bruington specializes in financing matters. Deutsch handles production, financing, distribution and joint ventures. Their clients include AMC Networks, Blumhouse Television, the Intl. Olympic Committee, MGM, Netflix, Chinese online giant Tencent Holdings, Univision Communications and Warner Bros.