US duo Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Baker Botts have bagged plum roles on the $53bn (£25.8bn) merger of oil giants GlobalSantaFe and Transocean, it was announced yesterday (23 July).

Transocean turned to Texas’ Baker Botts, while Skadden is advising GlobalSantaFe, fielding teams out of its Houston, Los Angeles and Washington DC offices, as well as its New York hub. Corporate partner Peter Atkins, who is based in New York, is spearheading the team for the Manhattan law firm.