29 July 2010

Freshfields advises PartyGaming on proposed merger with bwin

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised London-listed online gaming company PartyGaming on its proposed merger with Vienna-listed bwin Interactive Entertainment AG. The proposed merger, if approved by PartyGaming and bwin shareholders, would create the world's largest listed online gaming business.

It is intended that the proposed merger will be effected by bwin being merged into PartyGaming. As a part of the structuring for the proposed merger, PartyGaming will take the form of a European Company or Societas Europaea (SE).

The Freshfields team advising on the deal was led by corporate partner and head of Freshfields' leisure sector group Chris Mort, supported by associates Ben Critchley, Annie Whiteside and Sam Newhouse and a cross-border, multi-disciplinary team of partners and associates including Geoff Nicholas and Patrick Doris (gaming regulation) and Simon Evans, Kathleen Healy and Harriet Maurice-Williams (focused on bringing employees into the SE structure). Tax partner Michael Sedlaczek in Freshfields' Vienna office led the Freshfields Austrian team, with principal associate Hans-Jörgen Aigner.

Chris Mort said: 'We are delighted to be acting for PartyGaming on such a transformational deal. We are particularly pleased to be working on a transaction that is both cross-border and legally innovative, bringing together Gibraltar-incorporated PartyGaming with Austria-incorporated bwin through an SE merger.'

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