Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Sullivan & Cromwell have advised on a joint venture between Daimler, Nissan and Renault that will see the automakers team up to develop a new wave of energy-efficient cars.

The agreement will see the German, Japanese and French car manufacturers take stakes in each other to share technologies and build smaller, electric-powered vehicles.

Freshfields took a role for regular client Daimler on its acquisition of a 3.1% stake in Renault-Nissan, with the French and Japanese companies each taking a 1.55% stake in the German car giant.

The Renault-Nissan alliance, established in 1999, sees the two companies linked by cross-shareholdings while retaining their own brand identity.

Freshfields' cross-border team was headed up by Frankfurt-based corporate and finance partner Christoph Gleske alongside Frankfurt corporate partners Christian Decher and Andreas Koenig.

The magic circle firm's Tokyo office fielded a team including corporate partners Takeshi Nakao and Edward Cole, while in Paris, corporate partner Fabrice Cohen and counsel Patrick Tardivy took central roles.

Sullivan advised Renault with a team led by Paris-based corporate partners Gauthier Blanluet, Richard Vilanova and Olivier de Vilmorin, alongside Frankfurt-based corporate partners Wolfgang Feuring and Carsten Berrar and corporate partner Garth Bray in Tokyo. London partner Juan Rodriguez provided antitrust advice.

Japanese firm Nishimura & Asahi advised Nissan.

Freshfields also advised Daimler on last year's sale of a $2.7bn (£1.9bn) stake to Middle East investors, a deal which also generated roles for US firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Shearman & Sterling, both of which have longstanding relationships with the German car giant.