A raft of City firms including CMS Cameron McKenna, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Clifford Chance (CC) and Stephenson Harwood have won out on a record £8bn Ministry of Defence (MoD) private finance project.

The 35-year contract, the largest accommodation PFI contract to date, will see the development of 200 military sites across the south of the UK by a consortium led by construction giant Carillion.

Camerons projects partner Frank Dufficy is advising Aspire Defence – a consortium including Carillion, KBR (the construction and engineering branch of Halliburton), and HSBC.

Freshfields is fielding a team under project finance partner Nick Bliss for the MoD, cementing the magic circle firm's growing links with the Government ministry.

Stephenson Harwood is advising EDF Energy and Thames Water Services on contracts relating to the upgrading and extension of the utility infrastructure for water, wastewater, electricity and gas. The infrastructure will cover over 360 new buildings, 155 refurbished buildings and the demolition of 418 buildings spread over a nine-year construction period.

The Stephenson Harwood team was led by their head of construction, Steven Wait, assisted by Alex Hirom.

CC construction partner David Metzger is acting for bond guarantors Ambac Assurance UK and MBIA UK Insurance on a related £1.8bn debt issue.

The PFI programme covers the redevelopment of army garrisons across Aldershot and Salisbury Plain, and will include six construction projects and 200 construction sites providing new or refurbished accommodation for 18,000 army personnel.

Wait told Legal Week: "This was an enormously complex project and a Herculean task to bring so many parties and so many contracts to a financial close. The project represents the first-ever multi-utility infrastructure project completed in the UK, and it is likely to be a model for projects in the future."