Linklaters has secured a leading role advising electronic retailers Dixons on its potential merger with Carphone Warehouse.

Dixons Retail, which owns Currys and PC World, is in preliminary talks to merge with the mobile phone retailer. A combination would create a high street giant worth over £3.5bn and a new FTSE100 company.

Linklaters is advising Dixons with a team led by corporate partner Aedamar Comiskey, who is flanked by corporate managing associate Dominic Kendal-Ward.

Carphone Warehouse's in-house team, led by group general counsel Tim Morris, has taken on the majority of the legal work so far on the proposed te-up. Osborne Clarke has been a regular adviser to the company in the past but would not confirm whether it was involved in the deal.

Corporate partner Adrian Bott, who holds the client relationship, has acted for the retailer on several mandates including its demerger from fixed line voice and online business TalkTalk in 2010 and its £370m acquisition of Time Warner's AOL UK internet business in the previous year.

Linklaters regularly advises Dixons on corporate matters. Last September the magic circle firm's Paris office represented Dixons Retail on the sale of French online retailer Pixmania to German industrial group Mutares.