Magic Circle trio Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters have landed lead advisory roles on a multi-billion-dollar joint venture and asset swap between pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis.
The three-prong deal – announced in the same week as Novartis’ Freshfields-led $5.4bn sale of its animal health division to Eli Lilly – will see GSK and Novartis combine their respective consumer healthcare businesses, giving GSK a majority stake of 63.5%.