Law firm Appleby is taking part in a corporate merger drama that has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Corporate partner Garry Manley, based at the Athol Street, Douglas office played a leading role in the negotiations.
The firm has been acting as Isle of Man counsel to a company called STX Filmworks, Inc on its stock-for-stock merger with Eros International Plc which is expected to create one major organisation involved in both Hollywood and the Indian Bollywood film industry.
STX Entertainment is said to be a fully-integrated global media company specialising in the production, marketing and distribution of motion picture, television and multimedia content and is the first major entertainment and media company to be launched in Hollywood in more than 20 years.
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Eros International is a global Indian entertainment company that acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media. It was the first Indian media company to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Appleby team was led by Mr Manley.
Other leading players include Kirkland & Ellis LLP who acted as lead counsel to STX Entertainment with a team that included partners Rick C. Madden and Jennifer Yapp, and associates Michael Chung and Shelby Lindholm.
A spokesman said Appleby regularly works with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies around the globe to help them deploy strategic growth and restructuring initiatives, whether involving single jurisdictions or complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary transactions.
Pursuant to the merger, which was announced on April 17, STX Entertainment shares will be converted into contractual contingent value rights that will be settled for Eros A ordinary shares approximately 75 days after the effective time of the merger, in what is believed to represent the first example of an Isle of Man company issuing contingent value rights.
The merger-of-equals transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2020.
It is expected to create a pre-eminent global media company with resources and capability to develop, produce and distribute Bollywood and Hollywood premium content at scale and across platforms.