Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has taken a lead role advising Deutsche Bahn on its £1.59bn acquisition of European public transport services provider Arriva.

The magic circle firm's team was headed up by corporate partners Barry O'Brien (pictured) and Piers Prichard Jones in London and Thomas Buecker in Frankfurt.

The team also included Brussels antitrust partners Frank Montag and Thomas Wessely, regulatory partners Richard Phillips in London and Marcel Kaufmann in Berlin, and London employment partners Kathleen Healy and David Pollard.

Meanwhile, Herbert Smith advised Arriva, fielding a team headed up by London corporate partner Gillian Fairfield.

The deal is the latest in a long line of work that Freshfields has handled for Deutsche Bahn, including the €5bn (£4.3bn) initial public offering (IPO) of its mobility and logistics business in 2008, on which Buecker also took a central role.

Prichard Jones said: "We are delighted to be helping Deutsche Bahn on this strategically important transaction. The European public transport market is becoming increasingly liberalised and the combination with Arriva will give Deutsche Bahn the capability to expand and further develop into this market."

Deutsche Bahn made its first foray into the UK passenger market in 2008 with the acquisition of UK railway group Laing Rail, a deal which handed roles to Field Fisher Waterhouse and DLA Piper.

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