After more than a year-long probe, the European Commission has cleared the final hurdle for General Electric's €12.4bn (£9bn) acquisition of Alstom's power business after it agreed to sell some of the French company's turbine assets to Italian rival Ansaldo Energia.

The deal will bring together two of the world's biggest manufacturers of power plant hardware.

A clutch of law firms won roles on the transaction including Slaughter and May, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Hogan Lovells, Clifford Chance (CC) and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.