Allen & Overy (A&O) has scored its second high-profile corporate instruction in two days, advising a JP Morgan-led consortium on its acquisition of Southern Water from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) worth £4.2bn.

The JP Morgan consortium, which also includes Australia's Challenger Infrastructure Fund and Swiss bank UBS, beat a raft of other bidders, reportedly including Goldman Sachs, to win the auction for the water supplier.

A&O is fielding a team led by corporate partners Alan Paul and Susan Howard on the deal.

The firm is advising alongside Herbert Smith, which was instructed by UBS to advise on its role as part of the consortium. Herbert Smith corporate partner Malcolm Lombers is leading the team which also includes partners Ben Ward (corporate) and Chris Fanner (finance).

Linklaters is advising RBS on its disposal of Southern Water. Relationship partner William Buckley, tax partner Liz Conway and structured finance partner Edward Hickman were drafted in to advise the bank on the sale of the utility.

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