2009-11-24 01:26:11 - Alston & Bird LLP (www.alston.com) recently closed a notable capital markets transaction on behalf of the firm’s client Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

LOS ANGELES – November 23, 2009 – The deal secured $85 million of convertible notes for Malibu-based JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK), a leading designer and marketer of toys and consumer products.

“This deal is indicative of current market conditions, as many companies are looking to refinance their debt to take advantage of the debt capital markets while they are

open, and secure financing that may not be available in the future on similarly attractive terms,” said Thomas Wingard, partner-in-charge of Alston & Bird’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Corporate Transactions and Securities Groups. “We are pleased that we were able to successfully complete a deal acceptable to both JAKKS Pacific and market investors, leveraging firm-wide resources throughout our Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., offices."

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. announced that it used the proceeds from the offering to repurchase approximately $78 million of its convertible senior notes due 2023.

According to Scott Ortwein, co-leader of Alston & Bird’s Securities Group, "This deal marks one of the first significant capital market transactions that involved lawyers from our Los Angeles office since Alston & Bird merged with Weston Benshoof last year. It was a great opportunity to showcase the firm’s integrated capital markets practice and expanded capabilities that resulted from the merger.”

In addition to Wingard and Ortwein, Alston & Bird partners Kurt Osenbaugh and Jon Gordon from the Los Angeles office, and Justin Howard from the Atlanta office, were heavily involved in finalizing the deal.

Geoffrey A. Bass, Murray Skala and Irving Rothstein of Feder Kaszovitz LLP served as counsel to JAKKS Pacific, Inc.

About Alston & Bird

With more than 900 attorneys, Alston & Bird is a leading national AmLaw 100 firm. The firm’s core practice areas are intellectual property, complex litigation, corporate and tax, with national industry focuses in health care, energy, financial services and public policy. The firm has built a reputation as one of the country’s best employers, appearing on FORTUNE magazine’s ranking of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” 10 years in a row, more often than any other law firm in the United States. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Research Triangle Park, Silicon Valley, Ventura County and Washington, D.C. For more information on Alston & Bird, please visit www.alston.com.