Kirkland Represents Magnum Opus on Business Combination with Forbes

Kirkland & Ellis advised Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited (NYSE: OPA), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, on its business combination with Forbes Global Media Holdings Inc., the iconic business information brand. The transaction values the combined business at an implied pro forma enterprise value of approximately $630 million, net of tax benefits. Upon closing of the transaction, Forbes will become a publicly traded company, and is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FRBS”. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the late fourth quarter of 2021 or the early first quarter of 2022.

Read Forbes’ press release

The Kirkland team was led by transactional partners Jesse Sheley, Gary Li and Joseph Raymond Casey and capital markets partner Steve Lin, with assistance from transactional partners Ram Narayan and Pierre Arsenault. The team also included transactional associates Benjamin Yao and Zhixin Liu, capital markets partners Samantha Peng and Louis Rabinowitz and associates Olivia Wang, Jenny Han, Zifei Liu and Rachel Xing, government & internal investigations partner Cori Lable, international trade & national security partners Ivan Schlager, Daniel Gerkin and Nathan Mitchell, tax partner Mike Carew and associates Michael Conroy and Allison Bray, technology & IP transactions partners Seth Traxler and Min Wang and associate RJ McLaughlin, real estate partner Roberto Miceli and associate Lizbeth Cordova, antitrust & competition partners Carla Hine and Mike Robert-Smith, executive compensation partner Rob Fowler and associates Andrew Hedman and Julia Lee, employment & labor partner Richard Kidd and of counsel Evangelia Podaras, employee benefits partner Maureen O'Brien and of counsel Patrick Ryan, and debt finance associate Anthony Chan.