Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian have taken lead roles on the $1.1bn (£723m) acquisition of blogging website Tumblr by Yahoo!.

Yahoo! confirmed the deal in a statement today (20 May), including a promise “not to screw it up”. The largely cash-based deal will see Tumblr retain its independence as a separately operated business, with founder and current CEO David Karp remaining in his post.