Media, tech dealmaker jumps to O’Melveny in New York

Signage is seen outside of the law firm O’Melveny & Myers at their legal offices in Washington, DC, US, May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) – Los Angeles-based firm O’Melveny & Myers said Tuesday that it has brought on a media and technology industry dealmaker who has handled transactions for companies including Roku Inc, WarnerMedia LLC and Home Box Office Inc.

Matthew Syrkin, who was global chair of Hughes Hubbard & Reed’s media, technology and commercial transactions group, which he said he started in 2007, is joining O’Melveny as co-chair of the firm’s media-tech group.

O’Melveny Chair Bradley Butwin said in a statement that Syrkin will help the firm meet demand for “sophisticated, innovative, and proactive counsel in the media and technology space.”

Hughes Hubbard’s website no longer features a media, technology and commercial transactions group that was listed earlier this year, according to archived web pages. Ted Mayer, chair of Hughes Hubbard, said in a statement that the firm still has a “thriving” media practice within its corporate and M&A practices, pointing to work for Paramount Global, Sony Music, AMC Networks Inc, Sotheby’s and MSG Entertainment Corp.

Syrkin said he’s bringing over a “large roster of industry leaders” to O’Melveny, although he declined to name them. He said O’Melveny’s track record in the entertainment world and his willingness to evolve with the changing industry was a major draw for him.

“Technology is now becoming so agnostic to industry, that there’s really a groundswell happening here,” he said.

Syrkin said a convergence of media and technology represents a new wave that could help drive the legal dealmaking market in the future, citing as an example Sotheby’s creation of a first-of-its-kind art metaverse.

In April, O’Melveny advised a New York-based sports and entertainment company on its acquisition by metaverse development company Infinite Reality LLC.

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