DLA Piper advises VVIP Ventures in its acquisition of the National Enquirer, National Examiner and Globe

DLA Piper advised VVIP Ventures, LLC (VVIP) – a joint venture between Vinco Ventures, Inc. (Vinco), a digital media and content technologies holding company, and ICON Publishing, LLC – in its Asset Purchase Agreement with magazine publisher a360 Media, LLC to acquire in cash the National Enquirer (both U.S. and U.K. editions), National Examiner and Globe.

The acquisition includes all print and digital assets and owned IP of the National Enquirer, National Examiner and Globe. VVIP Ventures will continue to create and publish exclusive celebrity news and content under the banner of these publications with the help of the existing editorial team which will transition over and leverage Vinco's cross-platform content and advertising partnerships through its existing digital platforms.

“We are pleased to have served as counsel to VVIP Ventures on its acquisition of these storied assets,” said Tom Ara, Global and US co-chair of the Media, Sport and Entertainment sector, who led the deal team. “The extensive M&A capabilities and deep industry knowledge of the DLA Piper media and entertainment team played a key role in successfully completing this important transaction for our client.”

Along with Ara and Scott Layfield (both in Los Angeles) who played a key role in the deal, the DLA Piper team that advised VVIP Ventures included partners Chung Wei (Silicon Valley) and Jennifer Kashatus (Washington, DC); of counsel Andy Sacks (Seattle), Paul Myers (Washington, DC) and Jimmy Rusert (Atlanta); and associates Carissa Bouwer (Sacramento), Kevin Dong, Mei Jin and Bunnie Poullard (Los Angeles), Alex Cavayero and Michael Sardo (New York), Catherine Thomas and James Duchesne (Washington, DC), Jason Veit (Chicago), Julie Franki (Atlanta) and Aislinn Smalling (San Francisco).

With more than 1,000 corporate lawyers globally, DLA Piper helps clients execute complex transactions seamlessly while supporting clients across all stages of development. The firm has been rated number one in global M&A volume for 13 consecutive years, according to Mergermarket.

DLA Piper's market-leading international team of media, sport and entertainment lawyers, located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, advises on M&A, finance, borrowing, investment and corporate issues, production and rights acquisitions, exploiting media rights, staging and exploiting live sports and music events, intellectual property protection and enforcement, regulatory and administrative issues, antitrust and competition law, stadium and arena development and on the resolution of disputes.