Weil Gotshal & Manges and McDermott Will & Emery have advised on a £1.6bn deal for the Qataris to buy three luxury London hotels from the Barclay brothers.

Yesterday Sir David and Frederick Barclay agreed to sell their majority stake in Coroin, the company that owns Claridge's, The Berkeley and The Connaught, to Constellation Hotels, which is part of the Qatar Holding investment vehicle, for an estimated £1.6bn.

Weil is acting for the Barclay brothers with a London team led by private equity partner Marco Compagnoni, alongside the firm's head of international dispute resolution, Juliet Blanch, and disputes partner Hannah Field-Lowes.

McDermott is advising Constellation Hotels with a London team led by corporate head Hugh Nineham.

The sales come after a long-running legal battle between the Barclay brothers and Irish property developer Patrick McKillen, who set up Coroin together in 2004 to buy luxury hotels.

Several years later McKillen sued the brothers over their attempts to gain control of Coroin. But McKillen lost in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He lodged another case at the Irish High Court this year.

Weil advised the Barclay brothers on both challenges.

In 2012 Weil fielded a team led by London litigator Matthew Shankland to defend the duo in the High Court. In 2013 Shankland also represented the brothers in the Court of Appeal case.