Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Bredin Prat are among a quartet of firms landing key roles on L'Oreal's buys back of an €6.5bn (£5.3bn) stake from Swiss food group Nestle.

Nestle is selling off 8% of its stake in the French cosmetics company, reducing its share holding to around 23%.

Nestle initially bought the shares from the Bettencourt-Meyers family, L'Oreal's largest shareholder, in 1974. The shares being sold back to Nestle will be cancelled, which means the family's stake will increase to account for a third of the company.

The deal is partially funded by a disposal by L'Oreal to Nestle of its 50% stake in Swiss dermatology pharmaceuticals company Galderma, a joint venture between the two parties, for € 3.1bn (£2.5bn). The remainder is financed through a €3.4bn (£2.8bn) cash payment.

L'Oreal has turned to Orrick, fielding a team led by M&A partners Jean-Pierre Martel and Alexis Marraud des Grottes.

Bredin Prat senior partner Didier Martin meanwhile led the team representing the Bettencourt-Meyers family.

Nestle is instructing Paris-headquartered firm Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier, which is fielding a team headed up by M&A partners Emmanuel Brochier and Bertrand Cardi. They are flanked by corporate partner Christophe Vinsonneau, tax partner Vincent Agulhon and competition partner Igor Simic.

Nestle also turned to Switzerland's Homburger for advice on the deal. The firm's team included corporate partners Daniel Daeniker and Frank Gerhard and tax partners Dieter Grünblatt and Reto Heuberger.

Law firms recently appointed roles on mandates from Nestle include Mayer Brown, which in 2012 advised the food company on buying Pfizer's infant formula business in an $11.9bn (£7.2bn) deal.