Linklaters has acted opposite White & Case on the sale of Glencore Xstrata's Las Bambas copper project in Peru to a Chinese consortium for a price of $5.85bn (£3.5bn).

The deal, which remains subject to approval but is expected to close later this year, has been called one of China's biggest ever overseas mining acquisitions.

It follows the merger of Swiss mining and commodities giants Glencore and Xstrata last year, which gained approval from China's Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) on the condition that the project was divested.

Magic circle firm Linklaters represented GlencoreXstrata, with a team led by London-based senior M&A partner and head of the firm's global mining and metals group Charlie Jacobs, London corporate partner David Avery-Gee and Hong Kong corporate finance partner Rob Cleaver. London competition partner Christian Ahlborn provided antitrust counsel.

White & Case advised the buyer consortium, led by Hong Kong-listed MMG, a subsidiary of state-owned China Minmetals Corporation.

The consortium was comprised of MMG with a 62.5% ownership, Guoxin International Investment Corporation with 22.5% control and CITIC Metal Co which took 15%.

The US firm's Hong Kong-based global head of mining and metals John Tivey led on the deal alongside China practice head Xiaoming Li in Beijing, corporate partners Julian Chung and Anthony Vasey in Hong Kong, corporate finance partner Fernando de la Hoz in S