© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(Dec. 16) – Texas lawyers from two law firms advised a group led by Mexican businessman Gabriel Brener that yesterday purchased Houston’s soccer team, the Houston Dynamo.
Brener and his group, which also includes boxing champion Oscar De LaHoya, Houston businessman Ben Guill and Portland investor Jake Silverstein, purchased the team from Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group. The deal also included AEG’s ownership interests in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash and the BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston.
AEG had been the holders of the franchise’s operating rights and relocated the team to Houston in 2006. AEG sold partial ownership interests to Brener and De La Hoya in 2008. Tuesday’s deal bought out AEG’s remaining 50 percent stake in the franchise.
Brener turned to the sports law experts at Winstead, along with Los Angeles firm Ervin Cohen & Jessup to lead his end of the deal. Leading the Winstead team were Houston shareholder Denis Braham, Austin shareholder Alex Allemann and Dallas shareholder Emeline Yang. Also assisting on the M&A deal team were Austin associates Ryan Valenza and Ben Howell and Houston associate Phil Williams.
Winstead attorneys who advised on other aspects of the deal included Dallas shareholders Cathryn Berryman, Tom Helfand and Lori Oliphant; of counsel Heather Smith and associates Alex Arellano, Madelyn Chortek and Trip Dyer; Austin shareholder Marcus Brooks and associate Alyssa Kahn Fieldler; and Houston shareholder Mike Hilliard.
In 2008, Braham and the firm represented Brener when he acquired the minority interest in Dynamo from AEG.
Joe Perillo of Locke Lord in Houston represented Guill, the founder of White Deer Energy and a minority shareholder of the Houston Astros. Perillo received assistance from Houston associates Eric Larson and Iliana Ivanova.
Silverstein turned to a deal team from Latham & Watkins’ Los Angeles office.
AEG’s legal counsel for the deal came from the Denver office of Bryan Cave.
For more details on the transaction, view the Houston Chronicle’s article here.
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