Latham & Watkins Advises CVC in Chess.com Investment

CVC, one of the world's leading private markets investment firms, with deep expertise investing in sports, video games, and other community platforms, announced that CVC Capital Partners IX has agreed to invest in Chess.com, the world's largest online chess platform. CVC joins longstanding investor General Atlantic, which will remain a shareholder, as Chess.com continues to expand its platform and strengthen its offerings for the global chess community.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents CVC in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by New York partners Paul Kukish and Matthew Villar and London partner Kem Ihenacho, with associates Joseph Maurantonio and Morgan Banaszak, and with assistance from Elise van den Hoek. Advice was provided on private equity finance matters by New York partners Joshua Tinkelman and Kendra Kocovsky, with associates Ben Bussmann and Michelle Cha; on tax matters by New York partner Matthew Dewitz; on executive compensation and benefits matters by New York partner Bradd Williamson and counsel Rifka Singer, with associates Sanjana Rao and Jonathan Friedman; on labor and employment matters by Chicago partner Nineveh Alkhas, Madrid partner Naiara Rodriguez-Escudero, Paris partner Matthias Rubner, Munich partner Tobias Leder, and London partner Sarah Gadd, with associates Ellie Marissa Wilson, María Goñi, Alice Brisset, Jenny Bobbitt, and Sahar Merchant; on intellectual property matters by New York partner Pelin Serpin, with associates Jamie Eimbinder and Andrea Lee; on data privacy matters by Houston partner Robert Brown, London partner Calum Docherty, and counsel Esther Franks, with associates Stuart Cobb, Ben Leigh, Jack Bergantino, Yinka Ogboye, and Alex Park; on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Damara Chambers and counsel Thomas Lane, with associate Amulya Vadapalli; on antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Amanda Reeves and counsel Jamie Sadler, with associate Sadie Goering; on Ex-US antitrust matters by Brussels partner Luca Crocco, with associate Juan Pablo Donado Díez, and with assistance from Vincenzo Grimaldi; on FDI matters by Hamburg partner Jana Dammann de Chapto; on compliance matters by Washington, D.C. partner Nathan Seltzer, with associate Patricia Amselem Bensadon; on real estate matters by New York partner Dara Denberg, with associate David Rao; on ESG matters by New York partner Betty Huber, with associate Nathan Ye; on environmental matters by New York partner Gary Gengel, with associate Qingyi Pan; on gaming matters by Washington, D.C. partner Barrie VanBrackle, with associate Justin Talarczyk; on AML matters by Washington, D.C. partner Joseph Bargnesi, with associate Maria Krol Stosz; on entertainment, sports and media matters by London partner Rachael Astin, with associates Alastair Mackichan and David Duquette, and with assistance from Charles Morrell-Brown; and on insurance matters by Los Angeles partner Harrison White, with associate Enrique Covarrubias.