Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Clifford Chance (CC) have taken lead roles on a €4.5bn (£3.6bn) deal which has seen Volkswagen (VW) agree to buy the remaining 50.1% of Porsche it does not already own, reports The Am Law Daily.

The German car giants have joined forces three years after they first expressed interest in doing so and more than five years after Porsche launched an ultimately unsuccessful bid to take over VW.

The deal's structure calls for VW to assume control of Porsche's automaking operations with Porsche SE, advised by Hengeler Mueller, to exist as a holding company.

Freshfields took the lead role for Porsche after also advising the luxury car company on the conversion of Porsche AG into a European stock corporation in 2007 and on a public offer for Swedish truck maker Scania AB in 2009.

A Frankfurt-based Freshfields team under tax partners Wilfried Schaefer and Martin Schiessl are leading the firm's team advising Porsche in connection with the most recent deal.

The CC team advising VW is being led by Frankfurt corporate partners Wolfgang Richter – the firm's global VW relationship partner – and Johannes Perlitt.

Other CC lawyers on the deal include corporate partner Frank Scholderer, intellectual property partner Thorsten Vormann, and banking and capital markets partners George Hacket, Markus Pfueller and Peter Scherer.