Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Latham & Watkins have taken the key roles on a joint venture between gambling operators GVC Holdings and MGM Resorts.

UK-based GVC, which owns Ladbrokes Coral and Sportingbet, is entering into a new business with US giant MGM Resorts, which owns the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as well as the MGM Grand.

The companies will each put $100m (£76m) into the venture and will share control of the new business, which will be based in the US.

The deal is the latest example in the gambling sector of UK firms seeking to expand into the US, after the Supreme Court made a ruling in May that paved the way for sports betting to be legalised across the states.

Gibson Dunn is advising MGM Resorts on the deal, with Latham advising GVC.

Gibson Dunn is fielding a team led by Los Angeles corporate partner Kevin Masuda, with Palo Alto-based IP partner Carrie LeRoy and Washington DC tax partner Benjamin Rippeon also advising.

Latham New York corporate co-chair David Allinson and corporate partner Jane Greyf are leading the firm's team, with a number of London partners – banking co-chair Chris Kandel, corporate partner Richard Butterwick and capital markets partner James Inness – also acting.

Gibson Dunn advised William Hill on its proposed £4.5bn merger with Canadian online gambling company Amaya in 2016, alongside Slaughter and May and Ashurst. Corporate partner Johnny Earle and London corporate head Charlie Geffen led the Gibson Dunn team on that deal.

Recent gambling sector deals include Paddy Power Betfair's proposed merger with FanDuel. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and US firm Blank Rome advised Paddy Power Betfair, and FanDuel was advised by US firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Scotland's Shepherd and Wedderburn.