Clifford Chance (CC) and White & Case have advised on Russian oil explorer RusPetro's $250m (£159m) London listing in one of the first premium-level initial public offerings (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange since last summer.

The deal, which comes amid a tough period for equity capital markets (ECM) work, saw White & Case take the lead role for RusPetro, while CC advised the underwriting banks, which included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mirabaud Securities and Renaissance Capital.

Both firms advised on UK, US and Russian law, with the White & Case team co-ordinated by City corporate partner Allan Taylor alongside Moscow partners Sven Krogius and Darina Lozovsky.

The CC team was led by European co-head of ECM Adrian Cartwright, while London-based US securities partner Chris Walton advised on US law aspects and Moscow partner Arthur Iliev advised on Russian law.

Commenting on the deal, Cartwright said: "It is relatively unusual for a company of this size to do a premium listing, but they were keen to demonstrate that they had the highest standard the market offers. The deal has attracted quite a lot of attention in a difficult market."

The latest deal is the sixth London listing for a Russian company that CC has advised on in the last 12 months. In autumn last year the firm took the lead role for the banks on Russian gold and silver miner Polymetal's $500m (£319m) premium listing, after also advising on the IPOs of fertiliser producer Phosagro and commercial bank NOMOS.