Baker McKenzie and Clifford Chance (CC) have advised on a major tie-up between two Saudi Arabian-listed banks, in a deal valued at about $4.9bn (£3.8bn) that creates the third-largest bank in the country.

Alawwal Bank, which is merging with the Saudi British Bank (SABB), is being advised by Bakers. The firm is fielding a team co-headed by London-based Bakers corporate partners Helen Bradley and Melanie Howard, alongside corporate partners Karim Nassar and Mohammad Al Rasheed from associated Saudi firm Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners.

Alawwal's largest shareholder is a consortium made up of RBS, Santander and a Dutch governmental department.

Meanwhile, SABB – which is an associated company of HSBC – is being advised by a CC team led by Dubai-based M&A partner Mohammed Al-Shukairy, working alongside local firm Abuhimed Alsheikh & Alhagbani, with which the magic circle firm has had a relationship for the past two years.

Bradley said: "This transformative deal will facilitate the flow of international investment capital into Saudi Arabia and supports the country's plan to diversify its economy. For Baker McKenzie, this is a great example of our UK and Saudi teams working together to deliver high-quality advice and help the client achieve its objectives.

"We see this capability as highly strategic and as the Saudi capital markets become internationalised, we are helping to shape market practice around how Saudi issuers can access international capital from investors, including in the UK and US, both on the Saudi market and by listing Saudi companies in London and elsewhere."

SABB shareholders will own 73% of the combined business when the merger agreement completes in May 2019, and the combined company will be the third-biggest bank in the country, with assets worth about $70bn (£54bn).

A number of firms have switched their alliances in Saudi Arabia in recent months, including DLA Piper, which established an association with the newly created Amer Al Amr Law Firm at the start of the year after country managing partner Eyad Reda left to set up his own local firm in Riyadh.

This June, Hogan Lovells announced that it had arranged a cooperation arrangement with Saudi firm ZS&R, two years after the dissolution of its alliance with Al-Yaqoub Attorneys & Legal Advisers, a relationship that was taken up by US firm Mayer Brown.