Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Latham & Watkins and Cravath Swaine & Moore have all bagged roles in the $8bn (£4.3bn) tie-up between two of the largest futures and derivatives exchanges in the US.

The agreement sees Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) acquire rival exchange the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in the latest multi-billion-dollar deal in the booming US M&A market.

New York M&A leader Skadden acted for CME, fielding a team headed up by Chicago-based corporate partner Rodd Schreiber, a longstanding adviser of the exchange.

Chic ago -based Mayer Brown advised CBOT, fielding teams in Chicago and Washington DC. Chicago-based corporate partners Scott Davis and Marc Sperber led on behalf of Mayer Brown.

The deal also generated roles for Los Angeles giant Latham, which advised a CBOT special committee, and elite Wall Street firm Cravath, which acted for the commit-tee's financial adviser, Lazard.

Reported on legalweek.com (18 October).