Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised Scopely on the deal, while Latham & Watkins advised Sony Pictures.
Scopely, one of the largest privately held mobile-first video game companies, announced its acquisition of GSN Games, a division of Game Show Network, LLC, from Sony Pictures Entertainment for approximately $1 billion.
GSN Games operates a portfolio of free-to-play mobile and online games that includes “Solitaire TriPeaks” and “Bingo Bash,” among other titles. The acquisition will add a complementary games portfolio to the Scopely business as well as bring a talented team of gamemakers to the Scopely ecosystem.
Scopely is one of the fastest-growing private mobile games companies today, having tripled revenues from 2018 to 2020. The company has one of the most diverse mobile games portfolios in the industry with success across both casual and core games—from social player vs player (PVP) to midcore role-playing games (RPG) to massively multiplayer online (MMO) strategy—and is known for its ability to build loyal and engaged player communities with a dedication to long-term, player-first experiences.
Citigroup acted as exclusive financial advisor to SPE.
The Skadden team included Corporate partners Jeffrey Cohen (Picture; Los Angeles) and Andrew Garelick (Los Angeles); Tax partner Nate Giesselman (Palo Alto); Intellectual Property partner Ken Kumayama (Palo Alto); Labor and Employment partner Karen Corman (Los Angeles) and Antitrust and Competition partners Kenneth Schwartz (New York) and Ingrid Vandenborre (Brussels).
Latham & Watkins served as transaction counsel to Sony with a corporate deal team led by Los Angeles partner Alex Voxman and Century City partner Andrew Clark with associates Alexandra McArthur, Maddison Goorman, Molly Wolfe, and Simon Moshkovich. Advice was also provided on benefits and compensation matters by Century City partner Julie Crisp with associate Jordan David; on tax matters by Los Angeles partner Pardis Zomorodi; on intellectual property and TTG matters by Los Angeles partner Ghaith Mahmood with associate Veronica Ye; on entertainment and media matters by Century City partner Kendall Johnson with associate Omeed Anvar; on privacy matters by Bay Area counsel Robert Blamires with associate Samantha Maerz-Beoning; and on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Les Carnegie and associates Andrew Galdes and Zachary Eddington.
Involved fees earner: Omeed Anvar – Latham & Watkins; Robert Blamires – Latham & Watkins; Les Carnegie – Latham & Watkins; Andrew Clark – Latham & Watkins; Julie Crisp – Latham & Watkins; Jordan David – Latham & Watkins; Zachary Eddington – Latham & Watkins; Andrew Galdes – Latham & Watkins; Madisson Goorman – Latham & Watkins; Kendall Johnson – Latham & Watkins; Samantha Maerz-Boening – Latham & Watkins; Ghaith Mahmood – Latham & Watkins; Alexandra McArthur – Latham & Watkins; Simon Moshkovich – Latham & Watkins; Alex Voxman – Latham & Watkins; Wenqian Ye – Latham & Watkins; Pardis Zomorodi – Latham & Watkins; Jeffrey Cohen – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Karen Corman – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Andrew Garelick – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Nathan Giesselman – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Ken Kumayama – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Kenneth Schwartz – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom; Ingrid Vandenborre – Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom;
Law Firms: Latham & Watkins; Skadden Arps Slate Meager & Flom;
Clients: Scopely; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment;
