Carlsberg, the Danish beer company, turned to Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan to help clinch control of its brewery business in the biggest merger and acquisition deal of the company's history.

The appointment of Lehman to lead the eight-month long negotiations with Orkla, the Norwegian brewer which agreed to sell its 40% stake in Carlsberg Breweries in a Dkr14.8bn (€1.98bn) deal, marks a rare use of external M&A advisers by Carlsberg. JP Morgan advised on the financing of the deal.