MoFo Advises TNL in Mediagene Acquisition and de-SPAC

MoFo is advising Taiwan-based The News Lens Co., Ltd. (TNL) in a series of transactions consisting of (i) its merger with Japan-based Mediagene Inc. (Mediagene) and (ii) its proposed de-SPAC with Blue Ocean Acquisition Corporation and listing on NASDAQ. 

The transaction is notable as a rare example of a de-SPAC that involves a substantial Japanese and Taiwan business. 

TNL is an independently owned international web media group with editions of its core “The News Lens” brand published in Taiwan, Hong Kong, ASEAN and Japan as well as an International (English) edition. Mediagene is a Japanese online media platform that publishes Japanese-language versions of leading foreign online media outlets, including brands such as Business Insider and Gizmodo.  The new combined entity will broaden TNL Mediagene's reach in Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The merger will also expand the media firm's brand portfolio and AI-driven analytics, advertising, and marketing technology products.  

A cross-border MoFo team advised on the series of transactions. The Tokyo-based MoFo team advising TNL on the Mediagene acquisition and overall transaction coordination is led by corporate partners Nozomi Oda and Yohei Nakagawa and capital markets partner Jesse Gillespie. The deSPAC transaction was led by Hong Kong corporate partner Thomas Chou and New York corporate partners Omar Pringle and Joe Sulzbach.