Mills & Reeve has taken a lead role alongside Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters on the University of Cambridge's 40-year, £350m bond issue.

Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland are joint-managing the offering from the university, which last week received an AAA credit rating from Moody's. The move marks the university's first foray into the public market in its 800-year history.

Mills & Reeve advised on university matters, fielding a team led by capital markets partner Stephen Hamilton and banking partner Sarah Seed, alongside CC, which advised the university on capital markets issues with a team led by London and Middle East managing partner David Bickerton and banking partner Simon Sinclair.

Meanwhile, Linklaters advised the banks with a team comprising capital markets partner Nigel Pridmore and tax partner Dominic Winter.

The news comes after A&O advised De Montfort University on a 30-year £110m bond issue in August, which marked the first bond offering by a UK university in over a decade.

A&O's team was led by London-based capital markets partner Geoff Fuller, while Linklaters advised Barclays, which served as book-runner on the bond issue, in a team headed up by Pridmore.

The university's 30-year bonds, which Moody's rated Aa1, were bought by M&G Investments, Legal & General, Scottish Widows and Kames Capital.