London – LawFuel – Law Firm Announcements – DLA Piper UK LLP (“DLA Piper”) has acted for the AIM listed Dutch entertainment
company 2waytraffic N.V. (“2waytraffic”) on its acquisition by 2JS Productions BV (“2JS Productions”), a wholly owned group company of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (“SPE”). 2waytraffic is a developer and exploiter of interactive entertainment content for television, mobile and
digital platforms. It develops, distributes and exploits interactive content through arrangements with broadcasters, telecom service providers and, in some cases, advertisers.
2waytraffic’s current catalogue of television formats includes “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”, “Brainiest”, “Last One Standing”, “Take it Or Leave it”, “You Are What You Eat” and “That’s the Question” and it currently licenses television formats into more than 55 territories.
2JS Productions has acquired 2waytraffic by way of a recommended cash offer and a sale and purchase agreement entered into with founder shareholders for an initial cash consideration of £114.3
million. 2waytraffic is expected to cease trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 2 July 2008 and become a subsidiary of SPE.
Kate Francis, corporate partner, commented: “This was an unusual and challenging transaction because the acquisition did not fall within the auspices of the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers or the Dutch Financial Supervision Act and was outside the jurisdiction of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers and the Dutch Financial Markets Authority. We are delighted to have been involved in this transaction and for our London and Amsterdam offices to have assisted 2waytraffic to
a successful sale.”
The DLA Piper team was led by Kate Francis (partner, London) and included Juan Perez Tejedor
(associate, London), Clare Forman (solicitor, London), Barbara van Hussen (partner, Amsterdam) and
Piet-Hein Berkhout (senior associate, Amsterdam). Freshfields acted for SPE with Osborne Clarke’s London representing the principal shareholders of 2waytraffic.
