Dewey Ballantine has landed the role of defending key client Walt Disney against Comcast’s $66bn (£35.3bn) hostile merger bid, in the latest mega-merger to hit the resurgent US M&A market.

Under the terms of its proposal, Comcast would issue 0.78 shares of Comcast voting stock for each share of Disney common stock, while assuming $11.9bn ($6.36bn) of Disney’s debt.