Finalists: Allen & Overy • Aluko & Oyebode • DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr • Fasken Martineau • Gabinete Legal Mocambique/PLMJ • Norton Rose Fulbright • Webber Wentzel

Bowman Gilfillan's role advising hotel chain Marriott International on its acquisition of the Protea Hospitality Group in a deal worth 2bn rand (£115m) secured it the award for M&A Team of the Year. The transaction makes Marriott the largest hotel chain in South Africa.

The size and scope of the deal and the multi-jurisdictional and regulatory aspects made this transaction particularly testing, involving the acquisition of the intellectual property of the Protea Hospitality Group, the purchase of shares in five Protea subsidiaries and the merger of a further 12 Protea subsidiaries into 12 Marriott subsidiaries newly incorporated in South Africa for the purposes of the transaction.