Trowers & Hamlins has landed a role on the $3.8bn (£2bn) purchase of a controlling stake in Kuwaiti mobile operator Wataniya.

Trowers advised Qatar telecoms provider Qtel on its acquisition of a 51% stake in Wataniya from a shareholder consortium led by the Kuwait Projects Company Holding. Bahrain-based partner Abdullah Mutawi led the team for Travers.

Weil Gotshal & Manges advised the Kuwait Projects consortium, led by London corporate partners Jeremy Dickens and Ian Hamilton.

The Kuwait Projects group has assets worth more than $18bn (£9.3bn) under management or control, making it one of the biggest diversified holding companies in the Middle East and North Africa.

Wataniya has more than 10 million subscribers and owns mobile telecoms assets in Algeria, Iraq, the Maldives, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, as well as Kuwait.

It is the second major deal in a month for Trowers' Middle East arm, which recently advised the winning consortium on a $2bn (£1bn) Saudi water and power project. Trowers Dubai-based partner Leroy Levy advised ACWA Power Projects on its bid to build and operate Saudi Arabia's second privately-funded water and power project, the Shuqaiq Independent Water and Power Project.

The deals come as the relationship between Trowers and Saudi alliance partner Hassan Mahassni has come to an end. The firm says it is in talks with potential suitors to replace the tie-up, which was established in 2005.