Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Shearman & Sterling and Latham & Watkins are among a raft of firms to have won roles on Vodafone's €18.4bn (£16.1bn) purchase of the majority of US cable giant Liberty Global's European assets.

The deal will see Vodafone expand its mobile, cable television and broadband services across the continent with the acquisition of businesses in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, including Unitymedia, one of Germany's largest cable networks.