Baker & McKenzie and Slaughter and May have lined up to advise on the $660m (£420m) sale of 17 healthcare brands, including Gaviscon, by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Bakers has advised consumer products group Prestige Brands, which acquired the products, led by Chicago M&A partner Dieter Schmitz and London M&A partner Jane Hobson, alongside Chicago partners Edward Harrison (corporate) and Chris Bartoli (securities).

City commercial partner Duncan Reid-Thomas, Washington DC competition partner Steve Harris and Toronto competition partner Arlan Gates also advised on the deal, while Kirkland & Ellis New York finance partner Jay Ptashek provided advice on the finance aspects.

Meanwhile, Slaughters has acted for regular client GSK on the deal, led by corporate partners Richard Smith and David Johnson with intellectual property partner Cathy Connolly. US outfit Sidley Austin also advised the company on US law matters.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2012, with 17 of GSK's over-the-counter healthcare brands including Fiber Choice, Phazyme and Sominex set to transfer over to Prestige.

The deal marks the latest step in Prestige's strategy to create shareholder value by acquiring well-known over-the-counter brands with strong consumer franchises and applying its own marketing and sales expertise to them.

The news follows Prestige's acquisition of Blacksmith Brands for around $200m (£127m) that included five over-the-counter healthcare products, from Johnson & Johnson at the close of last year.