A line-up of more than 10 law firms has advised on one of Spain's largest and most complex deals in the last 15 years – the €16.5bn (£14.4bn) takeover of Spanish motorway operator Abertis by a consortium of European companies.

The acquisition by Spain's ACS, Italy's Atlantia and Germany's Hochtief was confirmed last week after more than two years of bidding.

The deal dates back to May 2016, when DLA Piper, Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners and Gleiss Lutz advised Atlantia on its original £14.4bn bid for Abertis.

The following October, a competing offer of £16.45bn was laid down by ACS subsidiary Hochtief – which was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – before all three companies agreed to withdraw their original offers and form a consortium to make a united bid on Abertis. 

The acquisition, which was finalised last week, makes Abertis the largest infrastructure company in the world.

On the final bid, Abertis was advised by Spanish firm Uria Menendez, while the bidders' side included Freshfields for Hochtief, Clifford Chance (CC) for ACS, and DLA, Gianni, Gleiss Lutz, and Allen & Overy for Atlantia. 

Uria's team advising Abertis was led by managing partner Luis de Carlos, corporate partners Candido Paz-Ares and Alfonso Ventoso, competition partner Antonio Guerra and public law partner Daniel Ripley.

DLA Piper's team advising Atlantia was led by partner Inigo Gomez-Jordana, while Gianni's team included senior partner Francesco Gianni, corporate finance partner Renato Giallombardo, finance partner Giuseppe De Simone and tax partner Fabio Chiarenza.

DLA's Gomez-Jordana told Legal Week: "This was without any doubt one of the largest and the most complex deals done in Spain in the last 15 years. It went through lots of difficult moments for a number of reason, some even right at the end, but now it has been completed. The management for the company is very strong and very well aligned together. Overall, it was a very, very good deal."

Gianni lead partner Francesco Gianni added: "This transaction is by far the largest cross-border acquisition made by an Italian company and establishes the world leader in the field of toll road management. The completion of the transaction is the evidence that well-run companies can continue to grow and are supported by the banking and financial systems. Italian companies are now more open to expanding their activities through acquisitions, which provides evidence of the strength of the economy."

The Gleiss team was led by corporate head Christian Cascante, alongside corporate partners Martin Hitzer, Patrick Mossler and Jochen Tyrolt, competition head Ingo Brinker and commercial public law partner Andreas Neun. The A&O team was led by Madrid corporate partner Fernando Torrente. 

The Freshfields team advising Hochtief was lead by Munich corporate partner Kai Hasselbach, while CC's team was led by corporate partners Javier Garcia de Enterria and Markus Stephanblome.

Spain's Garrigues advised Atlantia on tax matters, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton took a role for Atlantia financial adviser Goldman Sachs, led by corporate partners Roberto Bonsignore and Ethan Klingsberg.

Citigroup and AZ Capital, which provided financial advice to Abertis, were advised by US firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and and Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) respectively. Davis Polk's team was led by Madrid office head and corporate partner Michael Willisch, while HSF Madrid partner Alberto Frasquet led for his firm.