A Manatt team led by Entertainment Partner Sophia Yen advised HARTBEAT on the formation of the company and represented HARTBEAT in its $100 million capital raise led by private equity firm Abry Partners.
HARTBEAT is a global, multi-platform media company resulting from the merger of Kevin Hart’s comedy brand Laugh Out Loud and film and television studio HartBeat Productions. The core Manatt deal team also included Corporate and Finance Partner Veronica Lah, Venture Capital / Emerging Companies Partner Christopher Dayans and Digital and Technology Associate Melanie DeFiore.
The new company intends to use the funding to hire more employees, grow its existing brands and franchises and create new intellectual property for a global audience.
Manatt is honored to have played a leading role in the transactions and to be involved in this significant development in the comedy arena and for the entertainment industry at-large.
Manatt’s team also included Partners Sharon Bauman (employment and labor), Michelle Cooke (intellectual property), Robert Duran (tax), David Herbst (tax), Thomas Poletti (M&A), Brandon Reilly (privacy and data security) and Beau Stapleton (entertainment), Associate Jessica Wood (intellectual property), Attorney Andrew Sevanian (intellectual property) and Copyright/Publishing Specialist Brian Sbardelli.
To learn more about this deal, read the announcement from HARTBEAT here and the extensive coverage in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.