Baker & McKenzie has landed its first deal for South African hospital group Medi-Clinic after advising on its €2.18bn (£1.48bn) acquisition of Switzerland's Hirslanden from European private equity group BC Partners.

The international firm was initially instructed in April on a €1.7bn (£1.15bn) of non-recourse financing facilities for the bid but its instruction was then extended to include advising on UK corporate aspects of the acquisition.

The instruction came through Bakers' relationship with Dresdner Kleinwort – a financial adviser on the transaction. The bid was structured to allow the deal to be conducted under Swiss law with the financing governed by English law.

Bakers' London team was led by finance partner Bernard Sharp, assisted by a team including Nick Tostivin.

The firm's corporate team, led by partners Jane Hobson and Simon Hughes, acted alongside partners Hans-Jakob Diem and Patrick Huenerwadel at Lenz & Staehelin as Swiss counsel to Medi-Clinic. Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala director Peter Hesseling acted as South African counsel.

Hirslanden is Switzerland's biggest private hospital group with more than 1,200 beds and 3,600 employees across 13 care facilities. It turned to Homburger corporate partner Claude Lambert for Swiss law advice and Dickson Minto in the UK.

Clifford Chance finance partners Suzy Stewart and Raymond O'Connor advised Barclays Capital as arranger of the financing. The deal will close later this month.

Medi-Clinic is South Africa's third-largest private hospital and recently made its first investment outside South Africa – buying a controlling interest in Emirates Healthcare Holdings, a private hospital group in Dubai in April this year.