Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz have taken the lead roles on highly-acquisitive pharmaceutical company Actavis’ $25bn (£15bn) purchase of Forest Laboratories.

As a result of the deal – the second largest announced corporate acquisition of 2014 so far -Irish-American drugmaker Actavis will expand into higher-margin treatments for Alzheimer’s, hypertension and other disorders.