Lovells' banking practice has landed its first major instruction for private equity house Novator Partners – advising on the financing of its €3.3bn (£2.2bn) buy-out of Icelandic drug company Actavis.

The firm's London office fielded a team led by acquisition finance partner Penny Angell and banking partner Paul Oldman on the transaction, which is one of the largest ever corporate deals in Iceland.

While the bid was carried out under Icelandic law, the financing – provided by Deutsche Bank – was arranged under English law.