MoFo Advises TBS on its $150m Alliance with Legendary

Morrison Foerster (“MoFo”) has advised TBS Holdings Inc. (“TBS”) (TYO: 9401) in relation to its equity investment into Legend Pictures LLC (“Legendary”), for US$150 million (approx. JPY 24 billion).

TBS is the holding company of the TBS Group, including TBS TV, a major, nationwide commercial broadcasting business in Japan. Legendary, based in Burbank, California, U.S., is a film production and media company that has produced numerous live action work, including Dune, the Godzilla series, and A Minecraft Movie. The strategic partnership between TBS and Legendary takes an important step forward in both entities’ strategies of expanding content production capabilities overseas to expanding content and intellectual property globally, co-developing video content based on Japanese IP for global expansion.

A global-deal team from MoFo led by Tokyo Corporate Partner Jeremy White advised TBS, and was supported by Tokyo Partner Andrew Meyer; Hong Kong Tax Partner Matthew Lau; Tokyo Associates Bryce Gray, Yusaku Narita, and Sarah Ishikawa; and San Francisco Technology Transactions Associate Lindsay Harris, amongst others.