U.S. animation company DreamWorks and China Media Capital have launched a series of billion dollar joint venture projects in Shanghai, with assistance from law firms Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Morrison & Foerster, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Paul Hastings.
The joint venture projects, which follow Chinese vice president Xi Jinping’s announcement that the China market would be further opened to U.S. film makers, include a film and television content production firm named Oriental DreamWorks, and a $3.2 billion cultural cultural and entertainment district in Shanghai’s Xuhui district, named The Dream Center.
Aiming to become the leading China-focused family entertainment company, Oriental DreamWorks represents one of the largest international investment projects in China with $330 million of worth in cash and intellectual property, according to a press release earlier this year. The Dream Center, expected to be constructed by 2016, will include cinemas and theatres, performing arts venues, leisure outlets and tourist attractions.
Cravath corporate partners Faiza Saeed and Eric Schiele in New York, Morrison & Foerster technology of counsel Aaron Rubin in San Francisco, and PaulWeiss’s China practice and Asian communication head Jeanette Chan in Beijing together acted for the California–based animation studio in this transaction.
China Media Capital was represented by Paul Hastings, with corporate partners Jia Yan and David Wang, IP partners Matthew Berger and Rob Carlson, tax partner Tom Wisialowski and compliance partners Tom Zaccaro and Ananda Martin leading the team.
Liu Zhen is North Asia senior journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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