Osborne Clarke has taken a lead role advising French Connection on its sale of the Nicole Farhi fashion label to private equity house OpenGate Capital – the firm's first instruction for the clothing retailer.

Osborne Clarke corporate partner and co-head of retail Kalpesh Tanna led a team advising French Connection on the deal – valued at approximately £5m – after being instructed by the fashion house for the first time earlier this year.

The UK top 50 firm will now handle all of French Connection's real estate work going forward.

Tanna was assisted by corporate solicitor Mathias Loertscher and Tina Lai, with property advice provided by property partner and co-head of retail Dolf Darnton.

The deal, which is set to close by August, saw City firm Maxwell Winward advise OpenGate, with corporate partner Christopher North taking the lead role. This is the second instruction the City firm has received from OpenGate after advising on the private equity house's acquisition of modeling agency Models 1 in 2008.

Tanna commented: "It was a difficult deal to do as it was asset-based rather than share-based. It needed a law firm that understands retail, corporate and property law and we were pleased to have advised French Connection in relation to this strategic transaction."

He added: "As a firm with a strong retail offering, these are the types of mandates we want to win and it has been tremendously satisfying getting this over the line. We are seeing increased levels of corporate and real estate activity in the retail sector and my sense is that the current economic conditions will prompt more exciting deals involving household name retailers."

Osborne Clarke's retail group advises a number of high-profile clients, most notably Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Mulberry and Carphone Warehouse.