Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Davis Polk & Wardwell are among the law firms advising on Total's $7.45bn (£5.79bn) acquisition of Maersk Oil.

The deal sees Danish company AP Moller-Maersk (Maersk) sell its oil and gas division to the French oil major in a bid to focus on other activities such as its shipping business.

Freshfields is advising Total on the acquisition. Its team is being led by Paris partner and corporate head Herve Pisani and London partner and co-head of the firm's global oil and gas group Graham Watson.

Other Freshfields partners involved in the deal include, in London, corporate partner Sam Newhouse, and in Paris, tax partner Vincent Daniel-Mayer, competition partner Jerome Philippe and employment partner Gwen Senlanne.

Danish firm Bech-Bruun is also advising Total on all Danish law matters, with a team led by partner Simon Milthers.

Davis Polk is representing Maersk on the deal with a team led by City corporate partner Will Pearce.

The US firm is acting alongside local firm Gorrissen Federspiel, whose team is being led by corporate partner Klaus Sogaard and M&A partner Charlotte Thorsen.

Freshfields has advised on a number of key oil and gas deals over the past two years which have a combined total of just over $100bn (£77.6bn). These include the merger between BG, and Royal Dutch Shell, Essar and Rosneft and Neptune and Engie.