Gunderson Dettmer acted as legal counsel to Pluto TV, a free ad-supported streaming service with 12 million monthly active users, in its acquisition by Viacom for $340M in cash.

According to Viacom's press release, Pluto TV will operate as an independent subsidiary of Viacom and its chief executive and co-founder, Tom Ryan, will continue to serve as CEO of the independent entity. Of the partnership, Ryan said, “Viacom’s portfolio of global, iconic brands and IP, advanced advertising leadership and international reach will enable Pluto TV to grow even faster and become a major force in streaming TV worldwide. Viacom is the perfect partner to help us accomplish our mission of entertaining the planet.”

The deal team was led by partner Jeffrey Higgins and associate Jonathan Spencer, with partners Mark Foster, Gina Marek and Tom Villeneuve, of counsel Grace Ko, special counsel Heather Aune, and associates Carlos Wilson, Aliya Sanders, Lily Kim, Vikki Nguyen, Jessica Verran-Lingard and Deidre Kalenderian.