Davis Polk & Wardwell and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have scored advisory roles in Comcast Corp’s agreement to acquire a majority stake in Universal Studios Japan for $1.5 billion, its biggest investment outside the United States.
Comcast, which owns Universal Studios and Universal Theme Parks through its NBCUniversal unit, said it will buy 51 percent of USJ Co, the holding company for the theme park operator, from Goldman Sachs, Seoul-based private equity firm MBK, U.S. hedge fund Owl Creek Asset Management and other owners.
Freshfields’ corporate team, led by partners Julian Pritchard in London and Junzaburo Kiuchi and Edward Cole in Tokyo, advised certain of the principal selling shareholders.
A Davis Polk team led by New York partner Frank J. Azzopardi advised Comcast NBCUniversal on intellectual property and technology matters.
In September, Universal Studios unveiled plans to invest in $3.3 billion to open a theme park in Beijing—its third park in Asia and biggest yet.