Lovells and Linklaters have secured the lead roles on the closure and sale of the entire store chain of retailer Index catalogue.

Lovells is advising long-standing client the Barclay brothers on the closure of 126 of the Index stores and on the £45m sale of the remaining 33 sites to retail giant Great Universal Stores (GUS), which is being advised by Linklaters.

Lovells head of private equity Marco Compagnoni, the Barclay brothers' client relationship partner for 10 years, is leading the team with assistance from corporate associate Jonathan Wood.

Compagnoni previously advised the Barclays on their £750m acquisition of Index's parent company, Littlewoods, from the Moores family in 2003.

The brothers have proved to be a lucrative client to Lovells over recent years, with the City firm also acting for them last year on their high-profile £730m acquisition of The Telegraph Group ahead of private equity house 3i.

GUS is being advised on the deal by corporate partner Iain Fenn of Linklaters, which enjoys a long-standing relationship with the company after acting on the retailer's hostile takeover of Argos in 1998.

National firm Eversheds is also understood to be advising GUS on the property aspects of the transaction.

The deal, which is still subject to trade union consultation, will see the acquired Index stores re-launched under the Argos brand, with 800 former Index staff transferring to the high street catalogue retailer.

The deal also looks set to lead to the Barclay brothers' disposal of the entire 119-site Littlewoods chain.

All the firms declined to comment.