Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson's UK arm has secured a big-ticket M&A mandate after being instructed by Virgin Media on its prospective £11.5bn takeover by private equity giant Carlyle.

The US law firm, which is a regular corporate adviser to the media group, is fielding a team from its New York and London offices on the high-profile bid, which is at an early stage.

The Fried Frank team is being led by New York corporate partner Arthur Fleischer together with London corporate partner Robert Mollen and UK-qualified corporate partner Jerry Walter, who joined the team from Simmons & Simmons in 2004.

If it is successful, the bid – which comes after months of speculation that a private equity acquirer would make a play for the cable TV business – could mark one of the largest European mandates that Fried Frank has yet handled.

Carlyle is tipped to instruct longstanding adviser Latham & Watkins on the approach. Latham is the buy-out giant's primary counsel and has advised on a number of deals in Europe, including the $2.57bn (£1.74bn) sale of Italian aerospace group Avio to Cinven last year. The firm refused to comment.

Virgin Media, a Nasdaq-listed company, was formed last year following NTL's £962.4m acquisition of Virgin Mobile. Fried Frank also advised on that deal.

New York-based Fried Frank cemented its relationship with the client after advising on the £5.5bn merger of NTL and Telewest in October 2005, alongside Ashurst.

Since the Telewest merger, Fried Frank has been established as the company's primary corporate adviser, with the US firm again working alongside Ashurst last year on a £9bn approach for ITV.

Virgin Media still instructs Ashurst for litigious matters and used the London firm during its high-profile dispute with BSkyB earlier this year.

Fried Frank and Ashurst have had a competitive relationship since merger talks between the firms failed in 2003. Former Ashurst managing partner Justin Spendlove quit Ashurst for Fried Frank in 2004.