Clifford Chance is celebrating after landing the lead role advising Barclays Bank on its biggest-ever foreign acquisition. The magic circle firm, which is on Barclays’ legal panel, is advising the bank on its £2.9bn recommended acquisition of South African bank Absa. Absa is being advised by Linklaters, while South African firms Deneys Reitz and Webber Wenzel are providing local law advice to Barclays and Absa respectively.

First revealed on www.thelawyer.com 11 May