Manhattan rivals Sullivan & Cromwell and Weil Gotshal & Manges have bagged lead roles on the latest mega buy-out as communications group Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) is taken private in a C$51.7bn (£24.2bn) deal.

Weil Gotshal is advising the purchasing consortium, which is being led by Teachers Private Capital and includes Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners. Sullivan is acting for the target, with M&A partners James Morphy, George Sampas and Donald Crawshaw spearheading the team.

Leading Canadian law firms Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, Stikeman Elliott and Goodmans have all grabbed a piece of the action advising on local law. Davies Ward and Stikeman are advising the target, while Goodmans is acting alongside Weil Gotshal for the investor group.

The deal, which was announced on Saturday (30 June), continues a long run of big-ticket buy-outs by private equity consortia that have propelled M&A in the US.

Other notable club deals in recent months include the take-private of credit card processing group First Data by a consortium led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co for $29bn (£15bn), when Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Sidley Austin and Sullivan all grabbed roles.