Norton Rose has landed a role on Nestle's $2.5bn (£1.3bn) acquisition of the nutrition arm of pharmaceuticals giant Novartis.

The instruction is the firm's biggest-ever for the client and comes after it was appointed to Nestle's panel for European M&A in 2003.

London corporate partner Campbell Steedman led the Norton Rose team for Nestle. The firm was first instructed on the deal in October 2005. Steedman was assisted by London corporate partner Phil Mellor and employment partner Cornelia Marquardt.

The firm worked alongside Nestle's in-house team, led by head of M&A Patrick Beringer, assisted by Richard Kibble and Bernd Wenzel.

Steedman commented: "This is the biggest thing we have done for Nestle but we have been doing five or six acquisitions or disposals a year for them since we were appointed to the panel around four years ago."

Norton Rose acted alongside Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, which provided US advice. Chicago corporate partner David Carpenter led the Mayer Brown team, which took a more prominent role on the deal as the transaction became focused more heavily on Novartis' US business.

Howrey partner Roxann Henry advised Nestle on competition issues in the US and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Berlin partner Helmut Bergmann advised on European competition issues.

Shearman & Sterling advised Novartis, led by New York M&A partner George Casey, with competition advice provided by partners Kenneth Prince in the US and Hans Jurgen Meyer-Lindemann in Germany.