Dewey & LeBoeuf has snared a lead advisory role alongside City royalty Slaughter and May to advise one of the front-runners in the race to acquire the insurance business of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Dewey is advising Zurich Financial Services alongside the elite City firm as one of four bidders in an auction for RBS's insurance arm, which is expected to fetch around £7bn.

A spokesman for Dewey confirmed to Legal Week: "Dewey & LeBoeuf is working as part of the legal team alongside Slaughter and May on Zurich's bid."

City giant Linklaters is understood to be advising longstanding client RBS on the auction process.

Other players in the race to snap up the insurance division – which includes the Churchill and Direct Line brands – are thought to be Allianz, Allstate and Travelers.

The news comes in the wake of the announcement today (13 June) that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised a consortium led by Babcock & Brown in its £3.5bn acquisition of Angel Trains.

Legal Week reported earlier this year that Freshfields was working on the deal, with finance partner Richard Phillips taking the helm for the magic circle firm. Linklaters is advising RBS on that deal too, with corporate partner Will Buckley leading the team.

Angel Trains has been up for sale since September last year, with Babcock thought to have secured the deal through a debt package backed by a group of lenders including Deutsche Bank.

The disposal came after both Linklaters and Freshfields secured roles on the record-breaking £12bn rights issue announced by RBS in April.

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