Slaughter and May, Clifford Chance, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and Ashurst are acting on the £6 billion ($7.6 billion) take-private acquisition of Merlin Entertainments, the owner of attractions including Legoland Resorts, Alton Towers and Madame Tussauds.

Slaughter and May is advising Merlin, which is being taken out of public ownership by a consortium headed by Kirkbi, which is the majority shareholder of Lego. The Slaughters team is being led by corporate partners Steve Cooke and Rob Innes, competition partner Lisa Wright, employment partner Phil Linnard, and tax partner Gareth Miles.

The relationship is fairly new for Slaughters, which has been acting for Merlin for about 18 months.

Clifford Chance is advising Kirkbi, with M&A and corporate partners Steven Fox and Tim Lewis heading the team. Kirkbi, which already owns 29.6% of the listed company, is heading the bidding consortium on the agreed bid and will own 50% of Merlin.

The other half will be owned by the other consortium members: alternative investment firm Blackstone Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

Kirkland & Ellis is acting for the Blackstone group, with a team led by M&A and private equity partners David Higgins and David Holdsworth.

Latham & Watkins is advising CPPIB, led by corporate partners Mike Bond and Richard Butterwick.

Ashurst is advising Lazard, which is the financial adviser to the bidders. Its team is being led by corporate partner Karen Davies and banking partner Tim Rennie.

The valuation of the shares is about £4.8 billion, which combined with the company's debt takes the enterprise value of the company to almost £6 billion.

Merlin Entertainment is Europe's largest visitor attraction operator, with more than 130 attractions including Legoland and Madame Tussauds, 19 hotels and six holiday villages across 25 countries.