Conflicts at Freshfields and Shearman let in Cravath on £20bn E.On bid

German power company E.On has chosen Cravath Swaine & Moore ahead of regular advisers Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer and Shearman & Sterling for its EUR29.1bn (£19.9bn) rival bid for Spanish power producers Endesa.

Freshfields and Shearman were unable to act for the company due to conflicts of interest. Freshfields was conflicted because it is advising Spain’s Gas Natural, who made a EUR22.5bn (£15.3bn) hostile bid for Endesa in September.

Shearman was conflicted because it represents Spanish energy producer Iberdrola, which is buying Endesa assets.

E.On, the world’s largest private power company, is also being represented by German M&A giants Hengeler Mueller, and Spanish domestic Perez Llorca.

Clifford Chance is representing Endesa, Spain’s largest electricity company, through Madrid co-managing partner Ignacio Ojanguren.

The Cravath team was led by corporate partner Richard Hall.

The team at Perez Llorca, which has an established relationship with E.On, was led by partner Pedro Pérez-Llorca Zamora, and the Hengeler team led by partner Dr Maximillian Schiessl.

E.On’s in-house team was led by general counsel Karl-Heinz Feldmann and Dr. Frank Fischer, vice president International Law.