On December 29, 2010, MSREF V Amber B.V., a company controlled by four closed-ended funds managed by the Morgan Stanley group (“Amber”), sold its 100% equity interest in Cinecity Arts and Cinemas S.r.l. (“Cinecity”) to The Space Entertainment S.p.A. Cinecity is active in the management of multiplex movie theaters, and The Space Entertainment S.p.A. is a joint venture between 21 Partners, a private equity fund managed by the Benetton family, and Mediaset, the media company controlled by the Berlusconi family.

Simultaneously with the Cinecity sale, Solengo S.r.l., the property company owning all of the multiplex movie theaters managed by Cinecity and a wholly owned subsidiary of Amber (“Solengo”), sold all of its real estate assets to two real estate funds managed by FIMIT – Fondi Immobiliari Italiani S.g.r. These assets consisted of five multiplex movie theaters located in Padua, Parma, Treviso, Trieste, and Udine.

Shearman & Sterling represented Amber and Solengo, the investment vehicles controlled by MSREF, in this transaction. Principal M&A attorneys involved in the transaction were partner Domenico Fanuele (Rome-Mergers & Acquisitions), associates Andrea De Pieri (Milan-Mergers & Acquisitions) and Francesco Liberatori (Rome-Mergers & Acquisitions) and international trainee Marco Barbi (Milan-Mergers & Acquisitions).