Linklaters and Kirkland & Ellis are lead advisers on the sale of the elevator unit of the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp—a deal that marks the largest buyout transaction in Europe since the 2008 financial crisis.

A consortium made up of the private equity firms Advent International and Cinven, as well as Germy's RAG Stiftung, are buying ThyssenKrupp's elevator technology unit for €17. 2 billion ($18.9 billion.) RAG Stiftung is the foundation created after the dissolution of the technology and mining group RAG and is now the majority owner of Evonik Industries AG.

In a drawn-out, competitive bidding process, Linklaters advised ThyssenKrupp in a dual-track mode, as the German company had also weighed listing the elevator unit in an initial public offering.

"It was a very competitive process with many interested parties and the outcome was open until the end," Philip Goj, a partner in Kirkland & Ellis' Munich office said in a telephone interview.

The Advent group beat its private equity rivals, a consortium of The Blackstone Group Inc., The Carlyle Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in the final round. Earlier this month, Finnish elevator-maker Kone Oyj dropped out of the bidding process.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval. It is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year.

The sale means ThyssenKrupp, an industrial icon whose largest shareholder is the Krupp Foundation, may be able to shore up its depleted finances. The company has been plagued by shrinking profits and surging debt.

Linklaters advised ThyssenKrupp. Ralph Wollburg was the lead partner for both tracks. Partner Kristina Klaaßen-Kaiser and counsel Christoph Van Lier were on mergers and acquisitions and corporate on the deal track. On the initial public offering track were  partners Staffan Illert on M&A and corporate as well as Marco Carbonare and Alexander Schlee on capital markets.

Freshfields partner Martin Klusmann advised ThyssenKrupp on antitrust issues and investment control.

Kirkland & Ellis advised the Cinven consortium, led by partners Benjamin Leyendecker and Philip Goj. Partners Mark Aschenbrenner, Attila Oldag and Volkmar Bruckner were on private equity and M&A, partners Oded Schein and Daniel Hiemer were on tax, partner Anna Schwander on capital markets, partners Wolfgang Nardi, and Alexander Längsfeld on finance.

Partners Adrian Maguire, David Higgins and Jacob Traff in the London office were on private equity and M&A, Sarah Jordan and Matthew Sinclair-Thomson were on antitrust, Matthew Merkle and Michael Taufner were on capital markets, and Christopher Shield and Hugh O'Sullivan were on banking and finance.

Latham & Watkins also advised Cinven's banking counsel on financing.