Kirkland & Ellis and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are advising on CVC Capital Partners' €1.8bn (£1.5bn) acquisition of Nordic tool distributor Ahlsell.

Kirkland is advising the sellers, Cinven and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, fielding a team led by City private equity partners Gavin Gordon and David Arnold, who joined the firm from Ashurst in 2010.

The Kirkland team on the deal also includes finance partner Stephen Gillespie, capital markets partner Ward McKimm and antitrust partner Shaun Goodman.

Swedish outfit Gernandt & Danielsson has also taken a role for the sellers, with capital markets partner Krister Skoog leading the firm's team.

Meanwhile, Freshfields is advising private equity house CVC on the acquisition with a team led by London corporate partner Chris Bown. Sweden's Roschier is also advising, with private equity partner Jens Bengtsson in the lead role.

Gordon (pictured) said: "There is more availability of debt financing in the market compared with six months ago, which we are seeing lead to a pick-up in activity for private equity houses.

"Investing in the Nordic region is also a little bit easier for investors right now, as the Nordic economies are suffering less than southern Europe, and Nordic banks' balance sheets are in a better state."

The completion of the deal is subject to relevant merger control clearances.

The deal comes amid a period of increased activity in the private equity market in recent months. Cinven last month announced the acquisition of CPA Global in a deal valuing the legal process outsourcer at around $1.5bn (£941m). Freshfields advised Cinven on that deal, with Travers Smith and DLA Piper acting for CPA.

Meanwhile, in January Clifford Chance advised CVC on a joint venture with Resource America that will create a global credit management business with more than $7.5bn (£4.7bn) in assets.