Allen & Overy (A&O) and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on a key legal publishing deal which has seen business information group Thomson Reuters acquire Practical Law Company (PLC).

UK-based legal publisher PLC, which has more than 750 employees across its operations in London and New York, will become part of Thomson Reuters' legal product portfolio. The company provides legal know-how and workflow tools to law firms and corporate law departments.

A&O represented longstanding client Thomson Reuters on the deal with a team led by London M&A partner Richard Evans and senior associate Michael Bloch, with New York M&A partner Peter Harwich advising on US aspects and London employment partner Paul McCarthy on incentives aspects.

Slaughters acted for PLC with a team led by corporate partner Charles Randell, supported by antitrust partner John Boyce, tax partner Tony Beare, head of employment Jonathan Fenn, real estate partner David Waterfield and intellectual property partner Cathy Connolly.

US legal counsel was provided by Hughes Hubbard & Reed with a team comprising corporate partner James Modlin, antitrust partner Ethan Litwin and tax partner Spencer Harrison.

PLC was founded by chairman Robert Dow and US chairman Chris Millerchip in 1990, both of whom were previously corporate lawyers at Slaughters.

Thomson Reuters chief executive officer James Smith said in a statement: "PLC will uniquely position Thomson Reuters to deliver a comprehensive suite of compelling productivity solutions that marry world-class legal information, expert know-how resources and software tools to help in-house lawyers and outside counsel respond to client demands to work faster and smarter.

"Together, we'll provide a full range of resources and tools to help our customers deliver the best advice quickly and efficiently, keep on top of regulatory and market developments, and better control costs."

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The role for A&O comes after the magic circle firm led for Thomson Reuters on its entry into the legal processing outsourcing market in 2010 with the acquisition of outsourcing firm Pangea3.

A&O also acted for predecessor company Thomson Corporation when it acquired Reuters in a $17bn (£10.5bn) deal in 2007. A&O partner David Wootton, who was among the firm's team advising on the deal, received a knighthood in the recent New Year Honours list.

Thomson Reuters also last year acquired Asian Legal Business, which provides news on the legal profession across the continent.