New York leaders Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have bagged plum roles on Spanish bank BBVA's $9.6bn (£4.9bn) acquisition of Compass Bancshares.

Cleary represented long-standing client BBVA, with New York M&A partner Victor Lewkow and Washington DC financial institutions partners Jack Murphy and Derek Bush leading the team.

Wachtell advised the target with corporate partner Ed Herlihy – who co-chairs the firm's executive committee – and corporate
partner Larry Makow playing lead roles.

The deal, which was annou-nced on 16 February, sees BBVA make its first move into the US market. The bank said the acquisition would make
it one of the 20 largest banks in the US.

The deal follows a busy 12 months for the US banking sector, which has seen a number of high-profile mergers. Notable deals included Wachovia's $25.5bn (£13.7bn) acquisition of mortgage lender Golden West Financial. Wachtell advised Golden West on that deal, while Wachovia called in leading New York firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Cleary and Wachtell were among the busiest firms in US M&A during 2006. Wachtell bagged roles on 78 deals last year, worth a total of $409.6bn (£210bn) while Cleary acted on 104 deals worth $304.6bn (£156bn).