Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and CMS Cameron McKenna have advised on the largest European private equity deal since before the global financial crisis, worth €9.6bn (£8.4bn).

The two law firms have advised as Japanese pharma company Takeda makes a move into the European market with the debt-free purchase of Swiss-based drug-maker Nycomed from its private equity owners.

Takeda is Japan's largest pharmaceutical company and the acquisition sees it acquiring a significant market share in Europe and emerging markets, in addition to its existing operations in Japan and the US.

The deal saw Freshfields advise the selling private equity consortium, led by Nordic Capital and Credit Suisse, while Camerons advised the buyer.

Freshfields' team was led by City corporate partner Julian Long (pictured), who co-heads the magic circle law firm's healthcare sector group, London private equity partner David Sonter and corporate senior associate Sam Newhouse. The firm also deployed a team of lawyers across its offices in New York, Tokyo and Cologne, covering finance, tax, dispute resolution and competition matters.

Camerons fielded a team under London corporate partner Sandra Rafferty. The firm's cross-border offices were coordinated by London-based deputy head of life sciences Sarah Hanson and head of life sciences M&A David Butts, who is based in the firm's Sofia branch. The team also included partner Nick Beckett, head of the Camerons' life sciences sector group, who advised on the patent due diligence side of the deal.

Long commented: "The deal is symptomatic of three main trends we are seeing in this space – an increasing corporate appetite for expansion and growth in emerging markets, particularly Russia, Brazil and China; the growing attractiveness of European M&A for Asian and US companies and increasing M&A in the healthcare sector, including disposals by private equity houses."

The transaction represents the largest European private equity deal since Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co's £9.7bn acquisition of Alliance Boots in 2007, which handed roles to CC, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Slaughter and May. The private equity sector saw a modest revival in deal activity in 2010 after being severely impacted by the 2007 credit crunch and subsequent banking crisis. The Nycomed acquisition is also the largest cross-border acquisition by a Japanese company in recent years.

The deal also handed a role to Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, which advised on some IP and litigation matters out of the US.

Camerons' Rafferty said: "Aside from the size of the transaction, what was especially interesting was that it spanned across about 50 different countries. It was an interesting transaction for CMS us as it shows that we have the geographical footprint to handle a transaction like this."

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