Italian firm Labruna Mazziotta Segni has bagged a plum role advising on the restructuring of Telecom Italia, a mandate that puts it in pole position to land a potential sell-off of the company's units, worth around €40bn (£27bn).

The firm, which split from Italian giant Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners in February, has been instructed to advise the telecoms giant on the deal, which will see it de-merge from its mobile division.

Telecom Italia's decision to hand the mandate to Labruna is a blow for Gianni Origoni, which advised Telecom Italia when it acquired the remaining stake in mobile operator Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), in a 20bn (£13.8bn) deal in 2004. Other firms involved on that occasion included Chiomenti, which advised TIM, and US firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

The de-merger has been seen as a precursor by Telecom Italia to a sell-off of the mobile division. However, both unions and the Government may stand in the way of any attempt to sell up the mobile assets of Europe's fifth-largest phone company.

While name partner Francesco Gianni led the team on the 2004 deal, both Andrea Mazziotti di Celso and Antonio Segni, who quit the firm with Fabio Labruna to form the new venture, played significant roles. The defection was the biggest in Gianni's history. Since then the firm has lost a further four partners.

Many in the market attributed the unrest to the firm's remuneration scheme, which rivals claim favours the most senior lawyers.

The 330-lawyer firm responded to the departures by shaking up its management and governance with a raft of changes, including the creation of a committee to monitor remuneration.