Sullivan & Cromwell has taken the lead role on HSBC's $1bn (£615m) sale of 195 US branches to First Niagara Financial Group, reports The Am Law Daily.

HSBC, which on Monday (1 August) announced plans to shed 30,000 jobs worldwide, is paring down its US assets as part of a larger cost-cutting initiative.

Financial institutions partners Mitchell Eitel and Camille Orme are leading the Sullivan team acting for HSBC on the transaction, along with tax partners Andrew Solomon and Ronald Creamer and antitrust partner Yvonne Quinn.

Meanwhile, First Niagara turned to Philadelphia-based US firm Pepper Hamilton for outside counsel. Corporate and securities partner Michael Friedman and banking and financial services partner Frank Mayer are leading the firm's team.

Sullivan, known for its banking expertise, has not traditionally been among the outside firms that HSBC has turned to for legal counsel.

However, the elite US firm has advised several banking clients that have been taken over or had significant stakes purchased by HSBC in recent years, working on deals such as the acquisition of Mexico's Grupo Financiero Bital in 2002 and the purchase of a nearly 20% stake in China's Bank of Communications – another Sullivan client – in 2004.

The firm also has previously handled work for First Niagara. Sullivan's Eitel advised the banking group last year on its $1.5bn (£922m) cash-and-stock acquisition of NewAlliance Bancshares, a merger that helped the two create a top 25 US bank.

First Niagara general counsel John Mineo and deputy general counsel Kristy Berner are leading an in-house team working on the transaction, which is expected to close by early next year.

The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.