Luke R. Ashworth

LUKE ASHWORTH represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, as well as acquisitive strategics, in acquiring, operating and, in the case of sponsors, exiting their company and asset investments. Luke’s broader corporate practice includes public and private acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, and corporate governance.

The transactions on which Luke works are often at the cross-section of entertainment, sports, media, and technology. He was recognized by Variety in the 2021 Legal Impact Report and the 2023 Dealmakers Impact Report for his role in many of the firm’s media and entertainment deals.

Luke previously served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Myron T. Steele and Justice Carolyn Berger of the Supreme Court of Delaware.

• A sponsor consortium comprised of global asset manager DWS Group (as sponsor and investment advisor to an investor consortium) and specialist investor in and manager of media music rights Cutting Edge Group (as lead investor and manager) in the creation of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery that constitutes one of the largest and highest valued music rights deals ever executed covering almost a century’s worth of music copyrights (over 400,000 compositions and song cues – including the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, DC Comics movies, as well as TV shows such as Friends, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, Two and Half Men, Succession, and The White Lotus).
• Warner Music Group and its affiliates in various media and entertainment transactions including:
  • The formation of a joint venture with Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm, to purchase up to US$1.2 billion of legendary music catalogs across both recorded music and music publishing.
  • The acquisition of a controlling stake in Tempo Music Investments, an investment platform for premium music rights of top songwriters, producers and artists (such as Adele and Bruno Mars), from Providence Equity Partners.
  • The formation of a joint venture with Elliot Grainge’s label, 10K Projects, whereby 10K Projects and its roster of artists (including Trippie Redd and Ice Spice, the latter in partnership with Capitol Records) became a standalone label within the WMG ecosystem.
  • The acquisition of 300 Entertainment and its roster of artists including Megan Thee Stallion, Young Thug, and Gunna.
  • The acquisition of Doug Morris’ 12Tone Music and its roster of artists.
  • The acquisition of Artist Partner Group and its roster of artists.
• ZMC, a leading private equity firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and technology, in various transactions, including:
  • The acquisition of Wpromote, an independent digital marketing agency.
  • The acquisition of Resonate, a provider of A.I.-powered consumer data and intelligence.
  • The acquisition of Simpler Trading, a platform providing interactive online education for individual traders and investors.
  • The acquisition of ITRenew, Inc., a provider of lifecycle management services specializing in data center decommissioning, data erasure and security services.
  • The acquisition of CMI Marketing, Inc. (AdThrive), a leading ad monetization platform for high-quality, mid-sized digital publishers.
  • The sale of ITRenew, Inc. to Iron Mountain valued at US$925 million.
  • The sale of 9 Story Media Group to Scholastic, valued at US$186 million.
  • Various “bolt-on” portfolio company acquisitions, including for AdThrive (Topic / Chia Labs, Inc. and Slickstream), ITRenew (eSISO, LLC and Splitted-Desktop Systems (SDS)), and Simeio (PathMaker Group (PMG)).
• Universal Music Group in various media and entertainment transactions.
• HarbourView Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused on investment opportunities in the entertainment and media space, in its efforts to acquire BET from Paramount Global pursuant to an auction process, including related equity and debt financing matters.
• Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, a portfolio company of The Raine Group, in its sale to Fertitta Capital and certain related transactions.
• The Raine Group, an integrated merchant bank advising and investing in high-growth sectors of technology, media and telecommunications, in the formation of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, including:
  • The acquisition of SuperJacket Productions (“Ridiculousness,” “The Dude Perfect Show,” “Rob & Big,” “Rob Dydrek’s Fantasy Factory,” etc.).
  • The acquisition of Street League Skateboarding, one of the world’s premier street skateboarding competition leagues.
  • The merger into the group of Nitro Circus, one of the leading action sports live event producers in the world.
  • An equity raise led by Causeway Media Partners, a leading growth venture firm.
  • A debt raise led by MidCap Financial, an Apollo affiliate.
• Siris Capital, a leading private firm focused on data, telecommunications, technology and technology-enabled business services companies, in various transactions including the sale of Pulse Secure, LLC to Ivanti, Inc.
• Gelfand, Rennert and Feldman (GRF), a full-service business management firm that represents individuals and businesses in the entertainment space, in various transactions including:
  • GRF in becoming the business management hub of Focus Financial Partners in 2024 following a partnership between the two firms established in 2017.
  • GRF Management Company, LLC in the acquisitions by GRF of substantially all of the assets of WG&S, LLP, Flynn Family Office LLC and Skeet Kaye Hopkins LLP.
• Shamrock Capital Advisors and its affiliates in various media and entertainment acquisitions and dispositions.
• Entertainment One Limited in the acquisition of unscripted television production company Blackfin.
• Warner Gaming on the sale of its one-half joint venture interest in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City to Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
• Z Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Z Capital Group, a leading privately held asset manager, in various transactions including:
  • The acquisition of Techniks Tool Group, a leading provider of tool holding and workholding products.
  • The acquisition of CTM Group, Inc., a leading global provider of managed entertainment and souvenir solutions.
  • The acquisition of the NitroSteel and Atmosphere Annealing assets of an affiliate of Gerdau S.A.
• U.S.-based private equity fund sponsor, a leading alternative asset manager dedicated to municipal, public purpose and community assets, in its take-private acquisition of MMA Capital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMAC) for US$161.7 million.
• EW Group GmbH, a strategic holding company based in Germany, in its acquisition of Hygiena, a leader in food safety and environmental testing solutions, from Warburg Pincus LLC, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing.
• The founders of the Lagunitas Brewing Company in connection with the sale of their remaining equity stake to an affiliate of Heineken N.V.
• Advatech Pacific, Inc. in connection with its sale of substantially all of the assets of its Electronics and Communications division to General Dynamics Mission Systems.
• Pacifica, a natural makeup, skincare and perfume purveyor, with a sale of a minority interest to Alliance Consumer Growth.
• General Electric Company and Synchrony Financial in GE’s approximately US$20 billion offer to exchange Synchrony Financial’s common stock for GE’s common stock to complete the separation of Synchrony Financial from GE.
• Atos S.E. in its US$1.1 billion acquisition of the information technology outsourcing business of Xerox Corporation.
• Capstone Logistics, a portfolio company of investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company, in its acquisition of Pinnacle Workforce Logistics.
• H&R Block, Inc. in a US$1.5 billion modified “Dutch” auction common stock tender offer.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.