Reed Smith Richards Butler has won a new European finance client, with the firm taking on its first transaction for UniCredit Group.

The transatlantic firm's London arm has recently signed its first deal for the bank – advising on its acquisition of a 20% share in the Turkish automotive parts supplier Martur for an undisclosed amount.

UniCredit came to the firm for advice after working opposite it last year on a deal that saw Reed Smith advising existing client Arco on a commercial telecommunications transaction with the Bulgarian cable company CableTel.

Reed Smith London finance partner Leon Stephenson and corporate partner Sakil Suleman led the Martur transaction, which closed at the
end of last month after a negotiating period that lasted five months.

Referring to Martur, Suleman told Legal Week: "Their type of work and international spread fits well with what we can offer."

Stephenson added: "This is a major win for the firm. There has been great appreciation of the work and they [UniCredit] were impressed with us."

UniCredit currently serves around 40 million clients across 23 different countries, and is one of the biggest international banking networks in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has previously used firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Italy's Grimaldi.