Slaughter and May, Weil Gotshal & Manges and Hogan Lovells are among a clutch of firms to have won mandates on GE's €12.4bn (£10.2bn) bid for the energy assets of Alstom.

The deal, which has come under intense scrutiny from the French government, was this week "positively received" by the Alstom board. Even if it goes ahead, GE said it does not expect the deal to close this calendar year.

GE has instructed Slaughters and best friend network firm Bredin Prat to advise on corporate aspects. Brussels-based Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom partner Simon Baxter, for advice on competition law.

Arnold & Porter has also been drafted in by GE to advise on competition aspects, with Brussels partner Annette Schild in and London-based partner Susan Hinchcliffe leading a team alongside the firm's US antitrust head Jonathan Gleklen.

Partners at both US firms have advised GE on competition matters in the past. Gleklen counselled the company on a joint venture with Microsoft, as well as various deals including its $3.2bn acquisition of Converteam.

Skadden's Baxter advised the company on its failed attempt to buy Honeywell International for $42bn in 2001, while he was a partner at Clifford Chance.

Under the terms of GE's proposal, Alstom – a manufacturer of turbines for the nuclear industry and technology for electricity grids – has the right to consider unsolicited alternative proposals, including a potential bid from Siemens.

For the GE bid, Alstom has instructed a Weil Gotshal team led by Paris-based corporate partner David Aknin, and a Hogan Lovells competition team headed by Brussels partner and antitrust head Jacques Derenne.

The Hogan Lovells competition team also includes New York-based Rachel Brandenburger, an English-qualified lawyer who recently joined from the US Department of Justice, where she was an international special adviser.

Dominique Bompoint, a former corporate partner at Sullivan & Cromwell's Paris office who left last year to head up his boutique Cabinet Bompoint, has also landed a role for Alstom.

Alstom and GE both declined to comment on their legal advisers. All law firms declined to confirm their involvement.