Raine Group Taps New General Counsel as Lawyer Gets COO Role (1)

Raine Group, an investment bank started by Big Law alums known for its role brokering big money sports, media, and entertainment deals, has named Daniel Satin as its new general counsel.

Satin, a former Cravath, Swaine & Moore associate, joined New York-based Raine as a deputy general counsel in mid-2022 from the Meritage Group, an investment adviser where he had worked in-house since 2018.

Raine confirmed that Satin took over this month from Alfred “A.J.” Chianese III, who the bank elevated from general counsel to chief operating officer. Chianese, a former associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, joined Raine in 2014 and was promoted to general counsel five years later.

Satin will report to Chianese, who in turn reports to Raine co-founder and president Brandon Gardner, a former lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton who started Raine in 2009 with Joseph Ravitch and Jeffrey Sine. Satin touted via LinkedIn this week his new role.

Gardner, a former founder and general counsel at investment firm Serengeti Asset Management, had been Raine’s former COO.

Big Law Roots

Ravitch and Sine, who previously worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG, respectively, also began their careers in Big Law.

Ravitch worked out of Cleary’s offices in New York, London, and Moscow, where he helped start the law firm’s Russia practice. Sine spent time at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and London.

Sine, Ravitch, and Gardner helped Raine expand its merchant banking presence into the telecommunications, media, and technology space.

Within the past year, Raine has had a key role on several major transactions, including serving as financial adviser to Arm Holdings PLC on its nearly $5 billion initial public offering. Arm’s parent company, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., owns a minority stake in Raine.

Raine also reportedly earned a $65 million fee for advising World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. on its $9.3 billion sale last year to Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Endeavor merged UFC and the WWE to create subsidiary TKO Group Holdings Inc.

Professional golf players have also turned to Raine to advise them on a proposed merger that would reshape that sport. In December 2022 the head of Raine’s venture capital arm took part in a roughly $850 million takeover of French soccer team Olympique Lyonnais.

Last month Raine helped British soccer club Manchester United sell a 25% stake in itself for $1.3 billion to billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.