Allen & Overy (A&O) has landed a role advising the French Government on one of the biggest public-private partnership (PPP) deals in Europe to date.

A&O will advise government agency Voies navigables de France on the €4.2bn (£3.7bn) deal, which will see the design, construction and maintenance of a 100km stretch of canal forming a junction between France and both Belgium and the Rhine basin.

Leading French firm Gide Loyrette Nouel has also won a role to advise on the construction of the industrial platforms.

The deal will be led by Noel Chahid-Nourai, A&O's head of administration and public law in Paris, alongside finance partner Rod Cork and corporate partners Frederic Moreau and Mathieu Odet, assisted by counsel Geoffrey Levesque and public law senior associates Romaric Lazerges and Jean-Luc Champy.

Partner Jean-Dominique Casalta and counsel Xavier Jancene will handle real estate advice, while senior associate David Affejee will advise on tax law.

Chahid-Nourai said: "This is a very important deal for us because it is emblematic. It is one of the biggest PPP projects in France and it is the biggest one in Europe of this type of work.

"It is complex to organise and very challenging, so I think everyone will be very interested to watch what we do."

The Royal Bank of Canada is financing the deal.