International law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP represented Global Eagle Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: EAGLU), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by media executives Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky, in the closing of its initial public offering announced today.  The offering raised approximately $190 Million, making the Global Eagle IPO the largest such offering by a U.S.-based SPAC in over three years.

Global Eagle’s purpose is to take advantage of the substantial deal sourcing, investing and operating expertise of its management team to identify and acquire media or entertainment businesses with high growth potential in the United States or internationally.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP acted as legal counsel to Global Eagle.  Citi acted as sole book-running manager for the offering and Deutsche Bank Securities and Macquarie Capital acted as co-managers.

New York partner Joel Rubinstein led McDermott’s team of corporate and tax lawyers in both New York and Chicago on this transaction.  Additional team members included Corporate partner Jonathan Rochwarger and Tax partners Gary Karch and Daniel Zucker, as well as associates Harold Davidson, Laura Olch and Sam Schlessinger.

“This is the fourth SPAC IPO we have completed in the past year, and we are pleased to have been able to help navigate it through the registration process to closing in under three months,” said Joel Rubinstein.

Since 2003, McDermott has been a leader in representing issuers and underwriters in SPAC IPOs, and in representing SPACs and target companies in SPAC business combination transactions.  The Firm helped develop the current SPAC structure, and continues to be involved in its further evolution.