Dentons and King & Spalding have taken the lead roles on the £43.2m purchase of luxury UK car dealer HR Owen by Asian investment company Berjaya Philippines Inc (BPI).

The deal, which was initially part of a hostile takeover by BPI, was recommended by HR Owen to shareholders last month after BPI increased the offer price to 170 pence per share.

HR Owen's board had advised all shareholders to reject an earlier bid of 130 pence per share.

On September 23, BPI announced the revised offer was wholly unconditional, and that the investor had taken a majority stake.

Takeover negotiations accelerated in June when BPI acquired a 29.8% share in the company, which runs franchises for Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari and Lamborghini. Under Takeover Panel rules, investors must make an offer for a company if their stake exceeds 30%.

HR Owen turned to Dentons for the mandate, with corporate partner Jeremy Cohen leading a team that included partner Neil Nicholson.

BPI was advised by a London-based King & Spalding team headed by corporate partner William Charnley and senior associate Ilan Kotkis.

Separately, King & Spalding has made a prestigious hire in Geneva with the recruitment of Alejandro Jara, the former deputy director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Jara joins as senior counsel in the firm's international trade practice, having served as WTO deputy director general since 2005, prior to which he was the Chile's ambassador to the organisation.