Gaming
Online betting and gaming is a fast paced, constantly evolving, global industry. We understand not only the law associated with betting, gaming, licensing and entertainment, but also the business behind it. This understanding enables us to provide a full service to the gambling and leisure industry, including specialist corporate, commercial and regulatory advice.
Our Corporate team regularly advises on company sales and purchases, private equity investments and joint ventures within the gaming and betting sector. Our sector experience enables us to quickly focus in on appropriate compliance and regulatory warranties within corporate transactions, as well as the key documents, licences and regulatory issues to be examined during a due diligence process.
On the commercial contracts and intellectual property side, our Commercial team advises on all aspects of online gaming and betting. We regularly advise on matters relating to the licensing of software, RGS platform agreements, operator agreements, net gaming revenue share arrangements, the provision of premium rate services and intellectual property rights. We also advise on data protection, privacy, terms and conditions, partnering arrangements and more general matters (including advising on gaming laws in the UK).
Our expertise in the eGaming sector is widely recognised in the UK market and overseas. In fact, most of the transactions we work on have an international element. As such, we are familiar with and understand the use of international structures in countries such as Malta, Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Alderney.
Our client base includes some of the leading eGaming content providers together with operators, hardware manufacturers, e-commerce companies, software providers, brand owners, retailers, data centres and service providers specialising in this market.
Representative work
Examples of our gaming work include:
- Advised an online gaming company on its proposed move to AIM.
- Advised on the restructuring of a number of e-gaming content providers (Australian, Alderney and UK) together with restructuring the IP holdings by way of assignments and licences.
- Advised on the negotiation of Remote Gaming Server Agreements and e-gaming licences and revenue share agreements with Bet365, Paddy Power, Playtech plc, 888 plc and others.
- Advised on co-location and association services agreements with major gaming operators.
Key contacts:
Biography
As head of the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, David’s broad transactional experience includes acquisitions, disposals, take-overs and mergers, asset sales/purchases, joint ventures and company restructuring. He also advises clients on a range of corporate and commercial matters, including company/partnership formation, partnership/shareholders agreements and employment issues.
David has particular experience in the field of sport, acting amongst others for prospective purchasers of Premiership and Football League clubs in takeovers. He is also at the forefront of the development in England of the investment in and transfer of the economic rights of sportsmen and women.
For property investor clients, he has particular expertise in the disposal and acquisition of corporate and similar structures which assist in mitigating stamp duty land tax.
David was listed as a ‘leading individual’ in the Legal 500 2020 rankings. He was also listed as a recommended lawyer in the 2024 rankings.
Representative Experience
David has experience:
- Acting for investors in the economic rights of football players playing in the Premier League and the top divisions in other European Countries as well as in South America. Over the years, David has been involved in providing advice connected with the transfers, economic rights participation and/or playing rights of various Premier League and foreign based players including Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Jo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Fabiano and Heurelho Gomes to name but a few. More recently David has provided advice in relation to the following players: Paulhino (Tottenham) Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea) and Carlos Tevez (Juventus).
- Advising on a £430 million acquisition of a mixture of offshore and onshore companies owning 180 petrol stations and advising on the sale thereof three years later.
- Acting on a series joint ventures for a leading UK celebrity magazine and newspaper publisher with a combined value in excess of £280m.
- Acting for the prospective purchasers in their takeover of a Premier League Football Club.
- Advising on the £166 million sale of a group of companies with an industrial portfolio.
- Acting on the acquisition and financing of 545 public houses, worth £163 million.
- Advising on the £25 million sale to a UK plc of a leading UK independent internet service provider.
- Advising the founders and owners of a high end chain of London coffee shops on the sale, earn out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to a well known industry leading private equity firm.
- Advising the owners of a mining public relations agency on the sale of the worldwide operations to a UK quoted company.
Testimonials
‘David Salisbury is extremely personable, has an acute commercial sense and instils every confidence that he will provide sound reasoned advice with his clients best interests and not there to score points with the other side.’
Legal 500
Year qualified
Solicitor, 1992
Career History
Partner, Teacher Stern
