Maples Group Represents Mountain Co SPAC Merger with FC Barcelona's Media Division

Maples and Calder, the Maples Group's law firm, is pleased to announce that its London-based practice provided Cayman Islands counsel to Mountain Partners and its related entities, on a business combination agreement between Mountain & Co. I Acquisition Corp ("Mountain & Co", NASDAQ: MCAA), a special purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") focused on the sector of European digital media and technology, and FC Barcelona (the "Club").

Under this transaction, FC Barcelona will merge its digital Barça Vision and audiovisual content units under the brand "Barça Media". The agreement will allow Barça Media to access additional financing through the US capital markets and will accelerate the Club's initiatives across digital and audiovisual sectors and strengthens its ability to distribute Barça Media's content to new audiences in strategic markets around the globe.  It is estimated the combined business will have a value of US$ 1 billion.  Notably, this is the second recent major football club SPAC that the firm has advised on demonstrating their leading capabilities advising on transactions within the sports sector.

The transaction will support Barca Media's access to additional financing via US capital markets and in turn help the Club's initiatives across digital and audiovisual sectors to bring fans closer to the Club through technologies such as NFTs and the Metaverse.

A team of lawyers based in the firm's London office acted as legal advisers to Mountain & Co. and was led by Partners Matthew Gilbert and Jack Marriott with assistance from Associate Ray Tso. The multi-disciplinary team worked closely with lead US law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Commenting on this transaction, Matthew Gilbert said, "Having advised Mountain & Co. on their SPAC IPO in 2021, we are delighted to have worked with them again on this exciting business combination.  We look forward to seeing the benefits of this transaction and supporting Mountain Partners on their future endeavours."

The Group's unique ability to provide British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Irish and Luxembourg legal advice in addition to its capacity to provide accountancy services, independent director services as well as ancillary governance and administrative services to SPAC-related entities, makes the Group the perfect choice for international businesses considering SPAC IPOs and business combinations in Asia, the US and Europe.