The Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) and OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) have announced a definitive agreement whereby The Priceline Group will acquire OpenTable for $103 per share in an all cash transaction valued at $2.6 billion. The transaction will be effected through a tender offer and is expected to close in the 3rd quarter of 2014, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. OpenTable will continue to be headquartered in San Francisco, CA and will operate as an independent business led by its current management team within The Priceline Group.
Latham & Watkins LLP represents OpenTable in the transaction with a corporate team led from the firm’s Silicon Valley office by partners Patrick Pohlen and Luke Bergstrom, with partner Kathleen Wells and associates Chad Rolston, William Hackett and Matthew Van Leeuwen. Advice has also been provided on tax matters by partner Grace Chen and associate Una Au; on employee benefits matters by partner Jay Metz and associate Julie Crisp; on intellectual property matters by partner JD Marple and associates Heather Bromfield, Corinna Liebowitz and Arielle Singh; and on antitrust matters by partners Karen Silverman and Joshua Holian. All attorneys are based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office except for the following based in San Francisco: Hackett; Chen; Au; Crisp; Silverman and Holian.
OpenTable has been advised by Latham & Watkins since its early stages, including its May 2009 IPO, a subsequent public offering and numerous acquisitions, including the September 2010 acquisition of toptable.com, a leading restaurant reservation site in the United Kingdom.
