Lovells has landed its first major corporate deal for Rothschild, advising the bank on its sale of Five Arrows Commercial Finance to GE Commercial Finance.

The deal, which is for an undisclosed sum, saw Lovells private equity partner Tom Whelan head up the team. He was assisted by pensions partner Katie Banks and intellectual property partner David Latham.

In recent years Rothschild has used a range of firms including Ashurst, Allen & Overy and Addleshaw Goddard for corporate advice.

GE turned to Ashurst for legal advice with financial institutions partner David Page leading the team.

Whelan told Legal Week: "This is the first time that Lovells has acted for Rothschild on a corporate transaction and we were delighted to be able to advise on such a high-profile deal in the current market."

The deal is the latest in a series of wins for Lovells' corporate team. Earlier this year the firm advised new client Autogrill on its £545m
purchase of World Duty Free Europe from airport operator BAA.

Lovells also managed to jump to third place in Mergermarket's Q1 rankings by value for UK M&A deals. The firm advised on 14 deals over the period worth a total of E148.7bn (£117.9bn).

Five Arrows is one of the leading providers of asset-based lending to small and mid-market businesses. The company has more than 400 business clients, with a loan book worth around £180m.

The deal closed on 6 May.

Lovells declined to comment. Ashworth and O'Melveny were unavailable to comment.

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