DuPont Co. has turned to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for some of its largest deals of the past decade and did so again on its $6.3 billion purchase of Danisco A/S, announced Jan. 9. Lou Kling led the Skadden team. He also advised the Wilmington, Del., chemicals company on the $4.4 billion sale of synthetic textiles unit Invista Inc. to Koch Industries Inc. in 2004, the $7.8 billion sale of its pharmaceutical unit to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in 2001, its 1999 acquisition of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and its spinoff of Conoco Inc. in 1999.

On the Danisco deal, DuPont also retained three firms as special counsel. Christian Kjølbye of Plesner Advokatfirma in Copenhagen is Danish counsel, with William Randolph Smith of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington on U.S. antitrust issues and James Killick of White & Case LLP in Brussels on antitrust outside the U.S.

John Vaske of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Stephen Berenson at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. are providing banking advice to DuPont. Vaske, co-head of natural resources, led the Goldman team that advised Canadian fertilizer producer Potash Corp. in its defense against BHP Billiton plc.

Advising Danisco is Christian Lundgren of Kromann Reumert in Copenhagen and Robert A. McTamaney of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP. Lundgren advised Danisco on the €443 million ($584 million) sale of its flavors unit to privately owned Swiss company Firmenich International SA in 2007, while McTamaney represented the Danish company on its $600 million purchase of Genencor International Inc. in 2005.