Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has taken the lead role on Vodafone Group's $6.6bn (£4.3bn) sale of its 3.2% stake in China Mobile, reports The Am Law Daily.

Vodafone will return about 70% of the proceeds to shareholders through a stock repurchase, with the remaining balance used to pay down debt.

In 2000 the mobile phone giant spent $2.5bn (£1.6bn) for an initial 2.18% stake in China Mobile – the world's largest wireless operator by number of subscribers – which it increased to a $3.25bn (£2.1bn) investment and 3.2% stake two years later.

Freshfields advised Vodafone on the divestiture with a team including lawyers from its Hong Kong and London offices. Ben Spiers, the co-head of the firm's telecoms, media, and technology group, headed up the team alongside China managing partner Teresa Ko, financial institutions co-head Will Lawes and corporate partner Kenneth Martin.

Freshfields acted for Vodafone when the company first bought into China Mobile and forged a strategic alliance with the company a decade ago. The magic circle firm has been "pursuing [Vodafone] on the M&A side" since then, Spiers said, noting that Linklaters has traditionally won the lion's share of the company's corporate work.

Vodafone called on Freshfields in August for advice on how to structure the China Mobile share sale. Like most share sales in publicly-listed companies, Spiers said this deal was pretty straightforward. There were minimal warranties and minimal protection for the purchaser, and few negotiations with the banks because the market dictated the terms.

However, the size of the deal presented some complexities for Vodafone in the UK, Spiers said. Given its size, the sale had to be announced in accordance with UK laws, rather than just concentrating on regulations in Hong Kong and China. The sale does allow Vodafone to double its money from its China Mobile investment.

"It's kind of amazing, isn't it? For China Mobile, three and a bit percent is worth $6bn," Spiers says. "It just goes to show what these emerging market telcos are worth."

Offshore firm Ogier provided Jersey legal counsel to Vodafone on the sale, with a team led by corporate partner Nicholas Ward.

Rosemary Martin, who became Vodafone's new general counsel after joining the company from Reuters earlier this year, handled the in-house legal work on the deal.

China Mobile, nearly two-thirds of which is controlled by state-owned China Mobile Communications, did not require outside counsel since it was a passive party to the share sale transaction, Spiers said.

The Am Law Daily is a blog on law.com, Legal Week's US affiliate title.