Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Twitch Interactive, Inc., the leading live video platform for gamers. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by Twitch’s shareholders, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Twitch for approximately $970 million in cash, as adjusted for the assumption of options and other items. Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2014.
Latham & Watkins LLP represents Twitch Interactive in the transaction with a corporate team led from the firm’s Silicon Valley office by partners Luke Bergstrom and Kathleen Wells, with counsel Robert Smith and associates Owais Mahesri, Steven Madrid and Richard Burson. Advice has also been provided on intellectual property matters by partner JD Marple with associates Heather Bromfield and Arielle Singh; on antitrust matters by partners Joshua Holian and Karen Silverman with associate Vanessa Wu; on employee benefits and compensation matters by partner Jay Metz with associate Lilly Fang; and on tax matters by partners Kirt Switzer and Grace Chen, with associate Una Au. All attorneys are based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office with the following exceptions: Holian, Silverman, Wu, Switzer, Chen and Au in San Francisco; Smith and Burson in Boston.
