A quartet of US firms have taken lead roles on the $10.6bn (£6.9bn) acquisition of Qwest Communications by rival telecoms company CenturyTel, reports The Am Law Daily.

Qwest was advised by US firms Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr. Skadden provided M&A advice with a team led by partner Charles Mulaney, while WilmerHale advised on antitrust and regulation with a team led by partners James Lowe, Lynn Charytan and Samir Jain.

On the other side, CenturyTel was advised by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and New Orleans firm Jones Walker. Eric Robinson led the Wachtell team, while Kenneth Najder led the Jones Walker team.

Both firms worked on CenturyTel's last major transaction, the $5.8bn (£3.8bn) acquisition of Embarq Corporation.

Including the assumption of $11.8bn (£7.7bn) in Qwest debt, the deal reflects an enterprise value of $22.4bn (£14.6bn), marking the largest telecom deal since mid-2008, when Verizon Wireless purchased Alltel for $28.1bn (£18.4bn).

Once the deal closes, CenturyTel will hold 50.5% of stock in the combined company to Qwest's 49.5%.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is representing JP Morgan Securities as financial advisor to CenturyTel, with partners Gary Horowitz and Robert Spatt taking the lead roles.

The Am Law Daily is the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week's US sister title.