UK trio strike lucky with roles on €2bn online gaming merger

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance (CC) and Bird & Bird are advising on the €2bn (£1.7bn) merger of two major online gambling sites which is set to create the world's largest listed online gaming business.

Freshfields is advising PartyGaming on its tie-up with bwin Interactive Entertainment, fielding a team led by Chris Mort, the head of the firm's leisure sector group, alongside dispute resolution partner Geoff Nicholas, employment partners Simon Evans and Kathleen Healy and tax partner Michael Sedlaczek.

Bwin is being advised by CC and Austrian firm Brandl & Talos, which has a long-term relationship with the gaming company. M&A partners Thomas Talos and Christian Thaler are leading the Brandl team, while CC's team is being led by M&A partner Jonny Myers, alongside employment partner Chris Goodwill.

Bird & Bird advised bwin on due diligence with a team including corporate partner Simon Fielder and associate Helen Gavin-Brown.

Mort said: "We are delighted to be acting on such a transformational deal. We are particularly pleased to be working on a transaction that is both cross-border and legally innovative, bringing together Gibraltar-incorporated PartyGaming with Austria-incorporated bwin through a societas europaea merger."

PartyGaming shares have increased by around a quarter following the announcement of the expected merger, while bwin's jumped by 12%.

The proposed tie-up is awaiting the approval of the shareholders of both companies before it goes ahead.

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