Slaughter and May and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have landed the leading roles advising Standard Life Investments on its proposed £390m acquisition of fund manager Ignis Asset Management.

Edinburgh-based Standard Life is set to take over Ignis, which is a subsidiary of life assurance company Phoenix Group, in a transaction is expected to complete by June, pending regulatory approval.

Slaughters corporate and insurance partner Jonathan Marks, who holds the firm's relationship with Standard Life, is leading a team of lawyers advising the asset manager.

Marks is flanked by financial regulation partner Ben Kingsley, intellectual property and IT partner David Ives, pensions partner Sandeep Maudgil, tax partner Gareth Miles, competition partner Bertrand Louveaux and real estate partner John Nevin.

Marks said: "There is quite a lot of consolidation in the asset management industry as fund managers are increasingly dealing with regulatory issues and expenses. I expect it is a trend that will continue."

Slaughters first landed Standard Life as a client in 2004, when it won the mandate to advise on the asset manager's demutualisation.

The firm worked closely with Standard Life's in-house legal team. The team was led by group company secretary and general counsel (GC) Malcolm Wood, working alongside associate GC David Burns.

Freshfields acted for Phoenix with financial institutions and insurance partner Robert Stirling leading.

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