Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Anschutz Entertainment Group
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
Clarity Partners, L.P.
DIC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
HLTH Corporation
Home Box Office, Inc.
ExxonMobil Corporation
International Olympic Committee
Intrepid Films, LLC
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Legendary Pictures
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Participant Productions
Power-One
Revolution Studios
SanDisk Corporation
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Soros Fund Management, LLC.
Symantec Corporation
The Walt Disney Company
The Weinstein Company
UBS Securities, LLC.
Univision Communications, Inc.
Warner Bros
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Century City
Century City rose from the old movie back lot of Twentieth Century Fox Studios to become a major commercial district rivaling downtown Los Angeles. In nearly four decades, O’Melveny's Century City office has branched out from its initial focus on entertainment and media matters to handling complex and high-stakes transactions and litigation for diverse clients across the business spectrum. More than 90-lawyers strong, the Century City group provides a practical understanding and innovative solutions to the legal and business issues clients face in an increasingly complex global economy. For example, our office is an integral part of an international O’Melveny team counseling Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) in its worldwide antitrust battle against rival microprocessor manufacturer Intel Corporation. Our work includes representing AMD in a suit filed in US court—the country’s largest pending federal court monopolization case—as well as lodging a complaint before the European Commission (EC) that led to the EC filing formal charges against Intel in 2007. For our wide ranging transactional practice, we employ sophisticated strategies and techniques that help clients close deals on terms that protect and grow their business. We recently represented Legendary Funding in its nearly US$1 billion recapitalization, which included an expanded co-financing agreement with Warner Bros., a US$600 million senior credit facility with Dresdner Bank, and the amendment and restatement of approximately US$200 million of mezzanine debt.
Key Facts
- The Best Lawyers in America (2008) referral guide listed Century City practitioners in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, International Trade and Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Securities, and Tax.
- Chambers USA (2007) recognized several of our Century City team members in practice areas including Antitrust, Debt and Equity, Entertainment and Media, Litigation, and Tax. Chambers elaborated by mentioning the Firm’s Capital Markets practice “undeniably remains one of California’s finest,” and highlighted the “talented litigators who can handle claims across a multiplicity of fields” while noting our Entertainment and Media lawyers reputation for “effective, professional and timely advice.”
- With the largest Entertainment and Media practice of any major US law firm, O’Melveny represented motion picture studios, independent production companies, television and music companies, sports organizations, financial institutions, strategic investors, and individual talent on groundbreaking and significant industry deals. The Century City office recently represented Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) in the formation of United Artists Entertainment LLC—a partnership between MGM, actor Tom Cruise, and chief executive Paula Wagner—and led the US$500 million capital raise for the revamped studio, providing financing for the production of 15 to 18 films.
- Entertainment programming and products are increasingly produced and exploited using “layer cake” financing from a number of different sources. We are regarded as the industry leader in these types of transactions. For example, in an unprecedented transaction, we secured full creative and financial control for Dark Castle Entertainment over the production and distribution of 15 motion pictures. The US$240 million deal, involving a group of financial institutions and mezzanine lenders, was structured as a combination of senior debt, mezzanine debt, and equity financing.
- In a 2007 profile of members of our Entertainment and Media practice, Variety wrote, “The venerable O'Melveny & Myers—one of the oldest and largest firms in Los Angeles—has stayed up-to-date by always trying to figure out what's around the next corner.”
- California Law Business named Century City senior partner, Warren Christopher, one of the “top Ten Most Influential lawyers in California.” Two of the office’s other partners were among the top 100 in this survey.
- The Century City office is committed to giving back to the community through pro bono work. Notably, one of our clients, Participant Productions, creates films as vehicles for social change. We represented Participant during the creation of distribution agreements for An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore’s compelling exposé about global warming, and Fast Food Nation, a film based on Eric Schlosser’s incendiary book about the dark side of the fast food industry. Participant plans to launch significant social action campaigns around the release of 10 films that are in production.
Related Services
- Business Trial and Litigation
We understand that not every case should go to trial. We frequently secure early dispositions of suits either through pre-trial motions or favorable settlements. However, when trying a case is the most likely route to success, we do not hesitate to let a jury render a decision.
- Antitrust and Competition
Our lawyers represent clients before antitrust and competition agencies around the world and, if litigation of a high-stakes acquisition becomes necessary, we are among the few firms with the necessary courtroom experience to litigate these complex cases successfully. We are representing AMD in one of the most significant pending antitrust matters in which AMD claims Intel is monopolizing the x86-microprocessor industry. So far, our representation has included EC, Japan Fair Trade Commission, and Korean Fair Trade Commission investigations; and AMD’s victory before the US Supreme Court establishing its right to use documents obtained in US courts in EC proceedings.
- Business Trial and Litigation
- Intellectual Property and Technology
With the breadth of experience ranging from software disputes to the enforcement and defense of domain and trade names, our lawyers provide a business-oriented approach to identifying and resolving the most challenging intellectual property issues. In fact, when Congress sought to preserve its authority to safeguard copyrights to many of America’s most beloved creative works by enacting the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), our Century City lawyers were engaged by the bipartisan leadership of the House of Representatives to respond to constitutional challenges to the proposed legislation.
- First Amendment
O’Melveny has more than a half-century of experience with First Amendment issues, including libel, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Our clients include numerous media entities.
- Entertainment, Sports and Media
- White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations
During the last decade, our Century City lawyers have represented public companies, nonprofit institutions, and individuals in prominent investigations and trials. We took the lead role representing ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling in one of the most high profile white collar trials in American history. Facing a prosecution with vast resources, a presidential mandate, and a jury drawn from Enron’s home turf, we developed a strong defense. Though the jury returned a verdict against Mr. Skilling, the media praised our lawyers for “combining razor-sharp intellect with a mild-mannered, dignified delivery.”
- International
In close collaboration with our US, Europe, and Asia offices, our Century City lawyers represent major investment banks and financial institutions in connection with the US regulatory aspects of international investments and financings, and provide advice on issues arising under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, US economic sanctions, US export controls, import regulations, and anti-money laundering statutes. For example, we recently provided US economic sanction compliance advice to a major international investment bank in connection with an international offering of shares in Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Limited.
- Mergers and Acquisitions
O’Melveny represents clients acting as principals or advisors in acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions. These range from middle market to multi-billion dollar transactions and are both domestic and international. We represent private equity and other fund sponsors in leveraged acquisitions and in fund formation, and represent portfolio companies owned by these funds in a variety of corporate matters. Our private equity clients include, Freeman Spogli and Co., Clarity Partners LP, and Black Canyon Capital LLC. Our corporate clients include Univision Communications, HLTH Corporation, Lions Gate Entertainment, Power-One, Inc. and Trust Company of the West. We represent, among others, the following investment bank and advisors - Bear, Stearns & Co., Houlihan Lokey and UBS Securities, LLC.
- Corporate Finance
We counsel underwriters, banks, companies, and financial sponsors in all types of corporate finance, including public financings of equity and debt securities, such as IPO’s, Rule 144A offerings, Regulation S global offerings, and other private transactions, as well as leveraged finance transactions by banks and other financial institutions. In a complex derivative-based set of transactions, we creatively represented Occidental Petroleum as it sold its shares in a NYSE listed company in a private transaction, then separately entered into a total return swap transaction with respect to its remaining shares, locking in its sale price and avoiding market exposure.
- Tax Controversy
Maximizing tax incentives demands an in-depth understanding of a diverse and evolving set of tax rules around the world. O’Melveny combines a precise and thorough knowledge of tax law with creativity in formulating proposed transactions and solving tax problems. A combined team of O’Melveny tax and litigation lawyers represented ExxonMobil in defeating a ballot initiative that would have imposed a substantial new tax on the company in Alaska. Our tax lawyers have also structured numerous mergers and acquisitions for both public and private companies and private equity funds. For example, our tax attorneys recently designed a complex restructuring of Health's business services division to facilitate a $1.5 billion leveraged recapitalization and sale of a majority ownership interest in the division to a major private equity fund.
- Film Financing
We represent financial institutions, investment banks, borrowers, and private equity firms in connection with the formation of new film companies and library acquisitions, including Soros Fund Management in its $900 million purchase of the DreamWorks live-action film library from Paramount Pictures, the formation of Legendary Pictures and Intrepid Films, and Cerberus Partners and Goldman Sachs in their investments in various film funds and companies.
- Motion Picture Studios
We represent most of the major motion picture studios and several independent production companies, including DreamWorks, MGM, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Lions Gate Entertainment, Participant Productions, and Revolution Studios in their production, financing, and distribution of feature films. Recently, we represented The Weinstein Company in the establishment of its Asian Film Fund, an innovative $285 million Fund fully financing the development, production, acquisition, marketing, and distribution of Asian-themed projects which will include 21 movies and 10 direct-to-video titles, including a remake of The Seven Samurai, an action epic set in WWII, and Forbidden Kingdom starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
- Music Industry
Our music industry practice includes extensive work in the areas of copyright, trademark, character, licensing, merchandising, and the Internet. Our Century City lawyers advise among others, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. We are also on the front lines protecting our music industry clients from piracy. In what has been called “the most important intellectual property case in decades,” we represented MGM in a US Supreme Court case that resulted in a decision that the film and music industry can sue Internet service providers that facilitate piracy of copyrighted materials.
- Sports Licensing
- Television
We counsel television networks, broadcasters, and producers such as HBO, Univision, Wild Brain, and DIC on the licensing of television products. In addition, our extensive experience in participatory accounting cases in this area is widely acknowledged. One of our Century City partners was cited in Chambers 2007 as being “on the short list of top lawyers” in the area. For example, we prevailed on behalf of Warner Bros. Television against contract and accounting claims from a director over percentage participation in “defined proceeds” from the Friends television show.
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1999 Avenue of the Stars, 7th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
United States of America
Phone +1-310-553-6700
Fax +1-310-246-6779
Local Weather
Local Time: 8:02 AM
Local Date: 11/7/2009
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