Multidisciplinary team from Willkie’s New York and Paris offices advises Thales in completion of acquisition of LiveTV, a company that revolutionized the inflight entertainment space.
On June 10, it was announced that Willkie client Thales Group had completed its acquisition of LiveTV from JetBlue Airways for approximately $400 million in cash. The acquisition, which was initially announced on March 13, 2014, will allow LiveTV to continue the innovation that has set it apart as the leader in inflight entertainment and onboard connectivity under Thales ownership. JetBlue will maintain its relationship with LiveTV to continue providing customers with differentiated, industry-leading inflight entertainment and connectivity products.
Thales is a global technology leader in the aerospace, transportation and defense & security markets. With 65,000 employees in 56 countries, the company in 2013 generated revenues of €14.2 billion. JetBlue carries 30 million customers a year to 85 cities in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America with an average of 825 daily flights.
The deal was handled by a cross-border, multidisciplinary Willkie team including: Corporate: partners Daniel Hurstel and A. Mark Getachew and associates Gal Davidovitch and Alexis Anzelone; Intellectual Property: partner Eugene Chang; Benefits: partner Michael Katz and associate Andrew Shapiro; Tax: partner Christopher Peters and associate Robert Larimore; Regulatory: partner Thomas Jones, special counsel Russell Smith and Michael Jones and associate Daniel Bumpus; Antitrust: partners Wesley Powell and Jacques-Philippe Gunther, special counsel Jonathan Konoff, special European counsel Faustine Viala, and associates Clémence Hardy and Lauren Verdirame; Litigation: partner Jeffrey Korn.
