Linklaters has secured a trophy mandate acting on the record £12bn rights issue by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) – the largest of its kind to date.

Linklaters is advising the bank – the UK's second-largest lender and a long-term client of the magic circle firm – on the issue, announced yesterday (22 April), which comes with RBS set to announce write-downs of £5.9bn in sub-prime-related assets.

Banking chief Robert Elliott is leading the team for Linklaters, alongside corporate partners Matthew Middleditch and Anne Drummond and US corporate partner Tom Shropshire.

The City giant worked alongside an RBS in-house team that included general counsel Miller Maclean and deputy Chris Campbell.

Last year a Linklaters team including Elliot and Middleditch advised as a consortium led by RBS acquired Dutch banking giant ABN Amro for €71bn (£55.9bn) after a marathon hostile takeover battle.

Commenting on the issue, Elliott said: "What is so complex here is that it is very difficult to estimate the amount of write-downs. The reality is that other British and European banks may have to follow suit."

Magic circle rival Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also landed a role on the issue, advising the underwriting banks – Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Leading the team for Freshfields was corporate partner Simon Witty, alongside financial institutions group co-head Will Lawes and corporate partner Sarah Murphy.

RBS indicated that it also plans to sell assets worth around £4bn, possibly from its insurance arm, to raise further capital.

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