Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cleary Gotlieb Steen & Hamilton are advising as coffee giant Lavazza buys Mars Drinks' businesses for a reported £499m.

The acquisition will see the Italian coffee manufacturer take over Mars' international coffee businesses as well as the Flavia machine and the Klix freestanding vending machine business.

Magic circle firm Freshfields is advising Mars, with its team led by M&A partners Piers Prichard Jones and Victoria Sigeti.

The Cleary team advising Lavazza is being led by London corporate partner Nallini Puri. The wider corporate team included New York partner Matthew Salerno and London partner Sam Bagot. Intellectual property advice was provided by New York partner Daniel Ilan.

Puri said: "We are delighted to get this deal signed on behalf of our client, Lavazza. We have enjoyed helping the Lavazza management teams through this process. This deal has demonstrated the wide-ranging and international expertise that Cleary Gottlieb has available to its clients."

Freshfields is currently advising Canadian gold mining company Barrick on its proposed merger with FTSE 100-listed US goldmining company Randgold, with Prichard Jones leading the team alongside corporate partner Stephen Hewes.

In 2016, the magic circle firm advised Tesco on the sale of its coffee chain Harris + Hoole to Caffe Nero. Freshfields' retail sector group head Claire Wills, tax partner Jill Gatehouse and real estate partner Mark Wheelhouse advised on the sale in London.