Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Macfarlanes are advising as buyout house Carlyle prepares to acquire security and defence company Praesidiad from fellow private equity firm CVC.

Praesidiad is responsible for brands such as the HESCO barrier (pictured) perimeter protection used by the British and American military in their deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carlyle entered into exclusive negotiations with CVC last month, to acquire the Belgian-headquartered security company it has been associated with since 2005.

The value of the deal is undisclosed, but Praesidiad has reported revenues of €420m (£371m).

Linklaters is acting for Carlyle with a team led by private equity partner Alex Woodward in London, corporate partner Arnaud Coibion in Brussels and London banking partner Oliver Sceales.

Freshfields is advising regular client CVC, with private equity partner Charles Hayes in London and corporate partner Vincent Macq in Brussels leading the firm's team.

Macfarlanes is acting for Praesidiad's management with a team led by M&A head Ian Martin.

Both Freshfields' Hayes and Macfarlanes' Martin are separately working on Neptune Oil & Gas's acquisition of French utility Engie's oil and gas unit for $3.9bn (£3bn), a deal that was announced in May.

Other recent deals for Linklaters include advising private equity house Montagu on its acquisition, as part of a consortium, of Norwegian software company Visma for $5.3bn (£4.1bn). Woodward is also leading the Linklaters team on that deal.

Freshfields also took a role on the same transaction, acting for Cinven on its sale of a 40% stake in Visma.

Vincent Macq was recently appointed as head of Freshfields' Brussels office, replacing competition partner Thomas Janssens, who is returning to full-time fee earning.