Silvia Vannini

Silvia advises public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions, securities, and general corporate matters, including corporate governance, both in and out of the entertainment industry.

She regularly represents private equity funds, domestic and foreign companies, motion picture studios, television networks as well as entrepreneurial clients on a wide range of corporate transactions, including company formation and structuring, acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures, strategic alliances, financings, and dispositions.

Representative Entertainment Industry M&A Transactions

• CJ ENM in its acquisition of an 80% stake of Endeavor Content from its parent company Endeavor Group Holdings for an enterprise valuation of US$850 million
• Starz in connection with the sale of a 57% majority stake in Starzplay Arabia to an Abu Dhabi-based consortium led by E-Vision, an affiliate of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), and ADQ
• ViacomCBS Networks International in its acquisition of a majority stake in the acclaimed Spanish language content producer Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico from the companies’ founding family and The Walt Disney Company
• Lionsgate in the sale of its controlling interest in Pantaya, the leading US Hispanic Video-on-Demand service, to Hemisphere Media Group
• Designer, activist and philanthropist Henry R. Muñoz III in connection with his acquisition of digital content studio Funny Or Die
• ViacomCBS in its acquisition of a 49% stake in MIRAMAX from beIN MEDIA GROUP
• Independent distribution, acquisition, co-production and feature film financing entity FilmDistrict in its sale to entertainment finance company Content Partners
• 20th Century Fox TV in the purchase of Dan Fogelman’s participation in the hit TV show This Is Us in connection with his new five-year deal with Fox
• Raine Group in its investment in VideoAmp, Inc., a company focused on optimizing cross-platform advertising
• Shamrock Capital Advisors in several library acquisitions
• Lionsgate in the sale of its stake in premium pay television network EPIX to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• Production company Good Universe in the negotiation of its sale to Lionsgate
• Warner Bros. in its acquisition of Machinima, a video entertainment network for gamers
• DMG Entertainment in definitive agreement to purchase Eastern Broadcasting Company
• Revolution Studios in its acquisition of several pictures from Tango Films
• Revolution Studios in in its acquisition of the movie library of Cold Spring Pictures from an affiliate of Lone Star Capital
• Metro Goldwyn Mayer Inc. in the acquisition of a majority interest in Mark Burnett's One Three Media and LightWorkers Media
• Legendary Entertainment in the $350 million equity investment by SoftBank Corp. and other existing investors, with an option for an additional $750 million investment over the next several years
• Legendary Entertainment in its acquisition of Asylum Entertainment, an Emmy Award-winning television production company
• British Sky Broadcasting Group in its acquisition of a majority stake in ZJTV LLC, a non-scripted television production company
• FilmDistrict in numerous corporate transactions including its strategic transaction with Focus Features
• Activision in its $18.9 billion business combination with Vivendi Games
• Private equity investors, venture funds, entertainment and media companies and individual investors in their entertainment and media investments

Other Representative Entertainment Industry Transactions

• Starz Play in establishing a strategic alliance with E-Vision, a wholly-owned subsidiary of multinational Emirati based telecommunications company Etisalat
• Imagine Entertainment in the formation of a TV co-financing venture with TVB Venture Investment, LLC, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB)
• Starz Entertainment in international joint venture for creation of an OTT (over-the-top) entertainment platform launched as "Starz Play" in the Middle East and North Africa
• David Goldberg in the launch of Banijay Studios North America a Los Angeles-based television production company, in partnership with Banijay Group
• Several independent production companies in their structuring and capital raising from private equity and other investors

Other Representative Transactions

• Clarity Partners affiliated entity in sale of assets to Peak Oil Holdings
• NASDAQ-listed Electronics for Imaging, Inc., an international company based in Silicon Valley that specializes in printing technology, in its acquisition of Italy-based Reggiani Macchine SPA and California-based Corrugated Technologies, Inc.
• Private equity fund Clarity Partners in the sale of its portfolio company Naylor, LLC, an outsourced business and communications services company, to RLJ Equity Partners
• H&Q Korea, a Seoul-based private equity firm, in its acquisition of a 49% stake in the South Korean subsidiary of Monster Worldwide
• United Online, Inc. in its $800 million acquisition of FTD Group, Inc.
• JAKKS Pacific, Inc., a multi-line and multi-brand toy company, in its defense against a hostile take-over
• Nationwide Health Properties, Inc., a leading seniors housing and healthcare real estate investment trust, in its merger with Ventas, Inc. in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $7.6 billion
• Wild Oats Markets in its approximately $700 million sale to Whole Foods Market, Inc.
• Underwriters in connection with several multi-million dollar IPOs (initial public offerings) of European and Asian Companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange