Clifford Chance (CC) and Latham & Watkins have bagged the mandates on the $1.3bn (£770m) cash sale of German engineering group Siemens' hospital IT business to US provider Cerner.

The two firms are expected to enter a strategic alliance linking Cerner's health IT business and Siemens's medical devices and imaging arm in the first quarter of 2015, subject to regulatory approval.

Latham is representing Cerner in the transaction with a cross-border team of lawyers based in the US, Germany, UK, Brussels and Spain. The team is led by Los Angleles M&A partners Jim Beaubien and Bradley Helms with counsel David Wheeler, alongside partner Harald Selzner in Dusseldorf.

Attorneys at the firm also advised on antitrust, benefits and compensation, employment, environmental, intellectual property, real estate, regulatory compliance, and tax law matters.

Clifford Chance is acting for Siemens, with a team comprising partners Nicole Englisch and Jan Wrede, counsel Matthias Wahl and associate Wenzel Richter, all from the firm's Munich corporate department.

Once combined, Cerner and Siemens Health Services will generate an estimated $4.5bn (£2.67bn) in annual revenue, and will spend around $650m (£386m) annually by combining research and development functions.

Last year, Siemens streamlined its legal panel in the UK, retaining previous adviser Reed Smith and offering places to Eversheds and Osborne Clarke for the first time.