Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells and Ashurst have taken lead roles on the £4.7bn takeover bid for Northumbrian Water by a Hong Kong consortium.

Freshfields has won the lead role for the consortium – which is led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI) – and is fielding a London-based team headed by corporate partners Piers Prichard Jones and Edward Braham (pictured), working alongside Hong Kong corporate partner Simon Weller.

The Freshfields team is also providing finance, antitrust and employment advice, with finance partner Peter Hall, competition partner David Aitman and employment partner Nicholas Squire forming the London team.

The magic circle firm is working alongside Mills & Reeve, which also advised CKI on its disposal of Cambridge Water prior to the Northumbrian bid, with corporate partners Stephen Hamilton and Claire Clarke taking the key roles.

Hogan Lovells, meanwhile, is advising Northumbrian, which today (2 August) unanimously recommended the 465p-a-share all-cash offer for the utilities company, which gives it an enterprise value of £4.7bn, including net debt. Corporate partner Steven Bryan is leading the Hogan Lovells team alongside fellow London corporate partner Guy Potel.

Ashurst is advising the financial advisers, HSBC and RBC Capital Markets, with former head of corporate Adrian Clark and newly-appointed corporate partner Tom Mercer leading the team. London finance partner Jane Fissenden is advising the banks on the finance side.

The deal, the first significant takeover in England's privatised water sector since the financial crisis, will see Northumbrian incorporated into the newly-created company UK Water, which is wholly owned by CKI. CKI is led by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, one of Asia's richest individuals.

The equity value of the deal is £2.4bn,

Last June Herbert Smith and DLA Piper won lead roles on CKI's £5.8bn purchase of EDF's UK electricity networks business, with DLA acting for CKI and Herbert Smith leading for EDF.