Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have all taken lead roles on the $13bn (£11bn) acquisition of India's Essar Oil by a group led by Russia's Rosneft.

The Russian oil giant will take a 49% stake in the company, while European trading company Trafigura and United Capital Partners, a Russian investment group, will each take a 24% stake.

The deal puts Mumbai-based Essar's total value at $10.9bn (£9bn). The investors will pay a further $2bn (£1.6bn) for a port in Gujarat, western India.

Linklaters is acting for Rosneft on the deal with a team led by City corporate partner Savi Hebbur. The magic circle firm advised Rosneft earlier this year on its $1.12bn (£922m) sale of a 29.9% stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha to an Indian consortium.

Freshfields is advising Essar with a team led by City corporate partner Samuel Newhouse, while Slaughters is acting for Trafigura.

Local counsel on the deal include Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for Essar; Sagar Associates for Trafigura; and Talwar Thakore & Associates for Rosneft, according to Legally India.

Other recent energy deals include Zhongwang USA's purchase of US aluminium company Aleris Corp for $2.3bn (£1.75bn) in August, with Freshfields taking the lead role for Zhongwang. And in June, Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters advised on the sale of German gas network Thyssengas to a consortium including Dutch infrastructure fund DIF, with CC advising the consortium and Linklaters acting for the seller.